When You Live Forever
by SilverWolfCub
Summary: What if... what if Plagg and Tikki didn't give Adrian and Marinette their powers? What if, something else more divine did? Thousands of years ago? Marinetta and Arden are immortal, and so were 18 others. Things changed though, when a power hungry Immortal mixed a brew, that changed their lives forever. The Immortal that created Kwami.
1. Chapter 1: Before

_**When You Live Forever...**_

 _ **Forever isn't as long**_

 _"There isn't a way things should be. There's just what happens, and what we do."_

 _—Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky_

* * *

Long, long, ago, before humans had discovered how to farm, when the sky let loose thunder, humans would pray to gods for it to go away. When a child died from disease, they would be buried among the rest. When humans still traveled, living in shabby huts and caves.

Long, long, ago, two teens lived.

The only teens of their village, the only children of their village, in fact. Disease never claimed them, they never even became sick. No one understood why.

Nevertheless, the village did their best to keep them alive. It was only when the teens reached 16 years of age did they finally realize something.

Marinetta, the girl with long black hair and brown orbs of eyes, was no longer Marinetta.

Neither was Adren, the boy with blue eyes and brown hair.

They didn't age. They looked the same they had when they were 15, at least, in features.

Marinetta, her hair was still long and straight, but with a blue tint no one even knew existed. It was like the ocean the elders would talk about in stories. Her eyes changed to a dark blue as well. Adren grew the strangest hair anyone at the village had ever seen, the strangest eyes as well. Green eyes, as bright as wet grass. And bright light hair, no one could describe because a name had not even been made up for it.

Suddenly, children born after the disease, only a year or so of age, grew. Over the night, after Marinetta had turned 17, all the children, a total of 18, grew into teenagers as well. None had normal brown eyes, but blues to dark to see, grays that looked like clouds, greens as dark as the trees, and even some violets, as pretty as flowers.

The villagers, knowing gods' hands were at worked, almost worshipped the children. The village grew to knew heights. It turned into the first city, the oldest city. Called Paris, after their lead animal God. With the children helping, it grew. They had immense powers.

The two teens had the most power, though.

Marinetta would walk through the village, gracefully helping bakers and merchants set up shops. She invented most jobs known today, such as bakers and tailors and warriors. No one could beat her in combat, her only equivalent being Adren. She designed shops, and could build them with the snap of her fingers. That was her power, creation.

Adren was the lead warrior, a tactician that no one could beat. He could build, but that wasn't his favorite thing, no, it wasn't.

He _loved_ to destroy.

It was ironic, he loved to destroy, but he hated to kill.

With a snap, he could destroy a mountain if wanted. Walls crumbled when his army attacked, no one could defeat them.

Over the hundreds of years, they, and the eighteen others _became_ god in mortal's eyes.

Then… one of them died.

It was a normal day. Adren and Marinetta were walking through the large city. Marinetta was explaining her newest invention, a shower. She was quite mad when the Romans stole her idea of a heated bath. Not only had they stole, they had made several assassination attempts on their group of twenty, and tried to attack a number of times. They were starting to annoy her.

"Mistress! Mister!" A girl of around ten ran up, heaving slightly, her brown hair clinging in clumps around her wet eyes. Both teens had a sense of dread. "Mistress Anay, she-she's-" She started to cry.

Marinetta wrapped her arms around the girl. "It's okay, little one. Show us the way."

The girl tore down the street, almost as fast as Cheche. The two ran after.

They met at a pavilion. A crowd of people parted for the girl and them as they made their way forward.

Both gasped as the horrid sight.

"Who did this?!" Adren yelled out, rage clear in his features. All mortals backed up a bit. Marinetta ran forward, falling to the ground next to her friend Anay.

Her blue eyes didn't hold the usual spark, her dark skin pale. A large, crooked, spear embedded in her stomach, letting rivulets of dark purple blood leak into the ground in puddles. The other immortals were there, eyes wide with horror, frozen like statues.

"The spear won't come out." Cheche said, gray eyes mad. Marinetta and Adren nodded, and both grasped the spear.

Before crying out in pain.

They let go, crumpling onto the floor as the immortals rushed to them. Marinetta's hands glowed red, while Adrens glowed green.

They stopped glowing, and, with a flash of light and screams and pain, things started to appear.

Two things, in fact. Smaller than a loaf of bread, things that resembled an animal. One was black with green eyes, cat ears adorned his head. One, with wide blue eyes and black spots over a red body. They looked at the two, before the little things collapsed.

The two immortals from which the beings had just come from felt a strange sense of protectiveness.

And the same happened to the other immortals. Their hands glowed, they cried out, and new creatures came to be on the floor. A cheetah, a wolf, an eagle, bear, bee, peacock, turtle, many more.

The two head immortals held their breath. Something was wrong, wronger than a dead immortal. Wronger than these creatures.

They looked around, and figured out why.

Everyone, save for the little girl and the immortals, were dead. Vaporized.

"Finally!"

The voice was deep and familiar, but it still made Adren shiver, grabbing at the black cat creature, which was asleep, holding it close. He felt strangely, vulnerable. Violet eyes pierced the light, and a teen stepped out. One of the immortals that looked much older than they actually were.

Cheche growled, curling an arm around the little cheetah on the floor. All creatures asleep. "Gabe! What is this- urk!"

The immortal now showing himself, Gabe, threw a spear faster than sight could see, catching Cheche in the chest. Instantly, as he crumpled, the little cheetah on the floor dissolved into dust. A gray wisp circled into the air, weaving around Gabe before disappearing into his brooch in his chest.

"Sorry Cheche, but this must be. To many gods are running around." Gabe chuckled, violet eyes glistening. On his shoulder, a purple moth sat, looking scared, but evil at the same time. Marinetta heard a growl from behind her.

Adren yelled in rage, snapping his fingers, never more wanting to kill someone then at that moment. Gabe had broken an oath among the immortals.

The fear in everyone's heart went from 5 to 10 when nothing happened.

"What did you do?!" Marinetta yelled. Gabe chuckled.

"You're not the only one who can create, Netta. We all knew I was the potion maker of our village. I created a brew that took away everyone's power -most of it- and put it in the little Kwami."

Kwami? Marinetta looked at the two dead immortals. The little girl squeaked, hiding behind her. She held the little Ladybug closer. "Why do this! You lost your power as well!"

He chuckled. "I know how to access my power, though. And, as i've said, there's too many gods running around. With you and Adren's power gone. It makes all the rest of us, almost mortal."

Without wasting a thought, Adren whipped his head around. "GO! RUN!"

Several followed direction, five staying behind. They all held their kwami. Bear, Turtle, Ferret, Bat, and Whale. "We're not leaving you two! You gave us this life!"

Gabe chuckled. "Then you shall die, and then i'll kill those two." His kwami disappeared, and his hair was suddenly hidden by a cap. A suit formed around him. He brought out a long sword.

"Little one, sneak away." Marinetta whispered to the girl, still feeling weak. As the girl left, she cautiously stood up. Adren crawled over, and they got up together. Gabe looked over at them, eyes squinted, but the five immortals stepped in front. Everyone could see that their powers were weakened far more then everyone else.

"Go. We'll get him." The one with the bear, Jani, snarled, her green eyes mixing with tears as her brown hair covered it. Marinetta realized her boyfriend was in the crowd, so was her fifty year old son.

The immortals dated like they were humans, and had kids every now and then, it wasn't abnormal. All had dated, besides Marinetta and Adren. Some hadn't had children, like Anay, Mason, Gabe, and Flipan.

"No!" Marinetta said stubbornly. "We're not leaving."

"Gabriel!" Adren said. "We gave you this power, and now you betray us? For what? To rule? You know you can never rule, especially now that you can be killed."

"I don't want to rule." Gabriel said. "I'm already a rich man. But I must be the only."

Marinetta tilted her head, that wasn't right. "How do you know that killing us won't make you mortal?"

Gabe huffed. "I know. He-I figured it out."

The one with the turtle, Wu, glanced back, wise eyes tilted. "Leave now. We'll be fine."

"Go ahead! Leave! I love a good chase." Gabe cackled with laughter as he brought out another sword. Jani picked up a metal pole, roared, and moved forward.

"We have to help." Adren said, just as stubborn as Marinetta. He made a move to go forward, but with a yelp stumbled and hit the ground.

"You don't realize you're too weak to move!" Gabe said as the attention was turned back to them. "The brew took almost all of your powers away. You're immortality is weakened, you could barely hold a cup right now! So much easier to kill."

"Get them out of here!" Jani yelled at the one with the whale, Esward. He nodded, running to help Adren up. He was the burly one of the immortals, gray eyes and gray hair. On his other side, he easily picked Marinetta up. His strength was still there.

Against their will, they were moved away from the fight. Hearing a noise, Esward rumbled down an alley, and into a building. Inside, another immortal, crouching down, a bow and arrow in hand, a quiver on her back.

"I thought you left!" Marinetta mumbled as she slumped down next to Adren. Their kwami were still asleep, it seemed. The immortal girl huffed, blowing a strand of her brown hair away, sky blue eyes roared in anger.

"And leave you guys? We're family, Mari." She said, seemingly blending into the shadows. "I got an idea to get them out of danger. Esward, keep them in here, and keep them quiet. After fifteen minutes, leave them here. Their safer by themselves."

"No…" Adren rasped weakly, but was ignored.

"Tell everyone to split up and hide. Pairs of two or three, go to different kingdoms, go away and don't look back." The girl said. Marinetta couldn't see her kwami over her styled tight clothes. She was covered in dull grey hunting clothes. "After we're gone, wait a day in here to get your strength back. Go to Rome."

Marinetta, half blind by pain and weakness, only managed a groan.

"What about you?" Esward said. The girl sighed.

"If I make it out of this, then i'll spend the next few years hiding their scent till there strong again. It's obvious they're our only hope. Gabe is insane."

The girl made her way to a window when Esward spoke again. "Mason… don't die."

The girl grinned, almost hidden by shadows. She went into her pocket, and pulled out a silver kwami wolf. "I'm third in immortal command. I have future visions every now and then, and can blend in with the shadows. Wolves are hunters." Her grin turned deadly. "I won't let myself die until this bastard goes as well."

From Adren's perch, he could see the fight going on, a bit far away and below. Two more immortals were dead. Monety and Ashi, Farret and Bat. Mason jumped out the window, pulling the bow from her back where she had left it in mid air. She hit a roof and rolled, almost disappearing before showing up behind Gabe, a while away. She notched two arrows, and fired.

Gabe spun, hitting one away while the other caught his cheek.

"Everyone, go! It's a command!" Mason yelled, causing Wu and Jani to run. Gabe cursed and looked up at the girl. Suddenly, a sword was flying for her, but she flipped, hand hitting the pavement before pushing herself farther away from another sword.

"I thought you went chicken and left." Gabe taunted. Mason laughed, casually nocking another arrow.

"A hunter always waits for the perfect time to pounce." She growled, letting the arrow lose. It snagged his leg, and Mason wasted no time, firing again. Gabe, with another sword that seem to appear from nowhere, hit it away and threw the sword. "I'm not that easy to kill Gabey!"

Gabe growled, "I expect no less from you."

Mason narrowed her eyes, then smiled, taking a step back. "I'll be watching you Gabey, keeping tabs. You'll never know where I'll be. Sleep with an eye open." Her face morphed. "I'll slit your throat it you don't."

Gabe yelled and threw another sword, but Mason just laughed jumping towards him, close to shadows. Without Gabe knowing it, she just gave the two immortals time to get away.

Adren didn't see her hit the ground.

He didn't see anything.

The pain and sleep finally took him.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed! This was a new writing style for me, so I hope it's good. I had this idea at just a point, like, what if Tikki and Plagg didn't give the powers, but Mari and Adrian did? How would they? Well, lets have them be godlike, immortal. And then my brain went tumbling.**

 **In this story, Marinette and Adrian are on par with each other in almost everything. Marinette is not stronger, like it shows in the show. I believe Chat is just as strong, but is more goofy so he doesn't show it. That, and he gets hurt so Ladybug doesn't. At least, that's what I think.**

 **Review Please! Any questions i'll answer.**


	2. Chapter 2: Missed

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _Nothing is_** ** _meaningless_**

 _'When you have life, try to hold it close, try not to let it go. When you finally do, do it happily.'_

 _-Author_

* * *

 **Adrian**

"It's time! It's time!" A loud voice sung in my ear. I groaned, shifting my covers and covering my eyes.

"Plagg. To loud!" I said, but he didn't listen.

"Do you not remember?" Plagg said, flying up onto my forehead. "New cheese delivery! Oh, and our scheduled two years with Marinetta and Tikki."

I smiled, happy thoughts flooding my brain. After ten years apart, our two years together had finally arrived.

I still remember the last time we met. It didn't end too well. We were lucky we were warned off the demon's arrival.

 _'I don't want to leave you.' Marinetta, called Mary at that time, said. Tikki and Plagg had moved away. I patted her back as she hugged me. I could feel the tears rolling down her back._

' _I don't want to leave you, either. We've been friends for longer then I dare remember.' I smiled. 'At least you can finally get rid of that accursed name Mary.'_

' _You as well with Aiden.' Marinetta giggled. 'You'll like my next name, even more than my original name, maybe.'_

' _You'll like my next name aswell. But I doubt i'll like it as much as Netta.' I smirked. 'Have you worked with Tikki on you're new form?'_

 _Marinetta nodding. 'Hopefully, the next time we meet, will finally be able to settle down. FInd the rest of the immortals.'_

 _A sad silence over fell us. The last immortal I saw was Mason, walking around with both arms in casts. She and another immortal had run into the demon. Esward didn't make had survived the attack, only to die later. Esward was the only other immortal I've seen in hundreds of years, besides Mason, who, somehow, always finds us when needed. She apparently digged his grave with broken hands._

' _Where are we staying?' I asked. Marinetta pursed her lips._

' _I'm not sure you'll like it, but i've found plenty of hotels in Paris.' She said, holding her dainty hands behind her back. My eyes widened, but I still smiled._

' _We would go back there anyway. And it's fitting. It started there, it ends there.'_

' _But what if we win?' Marinetta asked. 'What do we do? Paris still remembers us, but maybe not it's people. If we finally get our powers back, what of Tikki and Plagg? People will realize we don't age. Will they take us back as who we are?'_

' _We'll have to find out, Netta.' I smirked. 'I mean, you invented the shower, they better appreciate that.'_

' _Not just the shower-'_

' _Also most types of food known today, most family jobs, roads, carriages, weapons and armour-'_

' _You created that!'_

' _I was trying to cheer you up.'_

' _It worked.' She smiled, wrapping her arms around me for a hug. 'Stay safe.'_

' _I'll make sure he does.'_

 _We turned towards the new voice, to see a girl by the windowsill. Her hair was long again, pinned in a ponytail. Her casts were off, her blue eyes were weary, but her smile remained the same, even after thousands of years of running._

' _I'm sorry to interrupt-'_

' _Nonsense, Mason.' Marinetta said, walking over. Mason struggled to get up, but returned the girl's hug. 'We're glad to see you alive.'_

' _Same for you guys.' Mason said. Unlike us, she lost her accent long ago. We just couldn't seem to shake them off for long, though. 'But that's not why I'm here for._ He's _close by, tracking you.' She said._

 _Marinetta almost seemed to freeze, as did I. Her eyes though, were blazing in hellish fury. 'Where's the bastard?!'_

' _Close.' Mason huffed. 'I'll take him off your trail. Since this is probably the last time i'll ever see you-' She gulped. 'I wanted to have the pleasure of saying goodbye.'_

 _I shook my head. 'Don't you dare. Mason, if you don't come back, i'll kill you myself. We're going to need your help to track down the last immortals.'_

 _Mason looked sadder than i've ever seen. 'That's the thing guys. I've dug graves, i've counted. 20 immortals, 13 graves found. One body left to decay.' She looked up, and I could tell she was thinking of Wu, who died and was never buried. 'As far as I know, the only ones left without a grave are the twins. I've b-been looking, but. It's been nearly two_ thousand _years!' Her eyes watered, but she blinked and it was gone. 'Keep living for them, for me, if I do join them.'_

 _Marinetta shook her had, holding the girl's hands. 'Mason, get out of there when you can. The other immortals, when Gabe kills them, he takes their souls. Their trapped with him, in torment. I cannot not let you go with them. You're one of my best friends.'_

' _Your best friend is right next to you.' Mason said, looking at me. 'Maybe he's even more. I'll do my best… but-' She smirked, the old smirk that belonged on a wild animal. 'Not making that promise. But I can tell you one thing. '_

' _What?' I asked._

' _If I do kick the bucket, I'll kick it happily knowing you're safe and ready to kick Gabey's little toush.'_

 _With that, she turned and jumped out the window of the hotel. A silver thing zoomed past us, stopping for just a moment. 'Bye!' It said, Mason's wolf Kwami, I realized. She zoomed off after her immortal._

' _Keep her safe Storm!' Marinetta called, before turning to me. 'We must go.'_

We haven't seen Mason since, nor the twins. It's been so long, I can barely remember their faces. Red hair, blue eyes. Fred and George, I think. Fox and Rabbit. They could've died long ago, and I don't even know.

I got out of bed, ignoring Plagg's happy thoughts about cheese and Tikki. Looking around the apartment room, I groaned at the thought of leaving for work.

Ever since the day Netta turned 17, we haven't age much. I look around 16, so in the thousands of year i've been alive, I've grown about a year compared to normal people. That means jobs aren't the easiest to come around, since no one likes to employ such oung people.

Finally, last year, I got a modeling job for LAX Paris, a upcoming modeling business. It's small enough that my name isn't being posted around on bill boards, but girls still look my way when I pass. I usually just do small shoots, mostly for season clothes. Unluckily, the change from fall to winter has designers making new clothes by the dozen, and I have to go in every weekend for the next month .

I sigh, putting on the clothes they want me to wear for the first shoot. It's simple enough, a jean shirt and black pants, two silver chains on each side, along with some brown boots. I don't think it really goes with my hair, but what the designers want, they get.

I made some coffee, placing it in a to go cup before taking my key and opening my apartment door. I wanted to surprise Netta with an actual place we could stay in for the entire two years, instead of moving every few months.

I wasn't worried that she wouldn't be able to find us. I had a feeling she knew exactly where I was, since I've been in Paris for the last year. I had a feeling she was keeping tabs, since I've seen her hair flying around every now and then. I always chased after her, but then she would disappear before I could catch her.

"Plagg, come on!" I yelled. I heard an annoyed meow from the small balcony, and a few seconds later, I finally saw him fly by, grumbling under his breath.

"Another cat on the balcony. I had to scare her off." He said, crossing his tiny paws as he came to float by my shirt pocket. I chuckled.

"You attracted them like bees to honey." I said, taking a sip of my coffee. I always put as much sugar and cream in it as possible. "Just like Tikki and Ladybugs."

One thing i've noticed about the kwami, they attract their animal, but not their gender. Plagg attracts female cats, which annoys Tikki, and Tikki attract male ladybugs, which annoys Plagg to no end. At certain parts of the year as well, Netta and I do as well. Netta usually in the early spring, and I in the late winter. I think I have the best part of the deal, since the cats around me mostly just want to cuddle in my lap, so I don't feel at all annoyed by it. Netta, on the other hand, is always shaking ladybugs out of her hair.

Plagg landed in my pocket grumbling as I walked to the elevator. After seeing it empty, Plagg came back out to float by my side. "They find me irresistible, what can I do?"

White my finger, I scratched his head. "They find you completely irresistible, and the cheese makes you downright perfect." I said, sarcasm clear in my voice. He ignored it, giving me a toothy smirk at the thought.

"I am perfect. You wish you could be me!" Plagg stated as I took another sip of my coffee. The elevator started going down.

"Actually, if I remember correctly, you came from me. If you're perfect, I am to." I smiled innocently at him. He narrowed his large green eyes.

"Thinking so far back gives me a headache." He grouched. "Are you sure I didn't make you? I feel like that's what happened."

I was about to remark, when the elevator dinged and Plagg flew to my pocket, hiding as I walked out. From my pocket, I took my wallet, holding out a ten as I walked out of the building. Holding up a hand, a Taxi stopped almost immediately.

"Where to kid?" The guy said before I was even completely in the car. I hid my wallet back in my pocket, so he couldn't see how much money I had.

"LAX Paris, 6th street." I said, sitting comfortably in the back seat as I drank my coffee. It wasn't to clean back here, but I was on a time crunch. I wanted to be back home as soon as possible, and driving there and back would help.

"Not to far." The man mused. "$6.35, have it ready." He said, pulling off the curb and onto the street. Another sip of my coffee, and I looked at the man.

"I'll give you ten if you get me there faster." I said. Four dollars more wasn't enough to get him speeding, but that should keep him at a decent pace.

He grunted, but I could tell the taxi was going faster. Plagg snickered in my pocket as I looked out the window. Things passed by slightly blurred. I saw couples walking around, families eating in cafes. THere was a particular tabby cat leaning against a rail, that looked at our taxi as we passed. Cafes turned into restaurants, and building complexes turned into business buildings, and the taxi driver pulled over. I handed him the bill before getting out, shutting the door behind me.

My coffee was starting to cool, so I drained it, throwing it into a trashcan nearby. On Sundays, coffee was a must if I was going to make it through the day. Most days, I felt lazy and nappish, like cats, but on Sunday, a day where everyone felt lazy, it was ten times harder to stay awake. Before the invention of coffee (Netta had the idea, but she gave it to someone else) I had to drink either very cold or very hot water to keep me somewhat awake. These symptoms only started after the brew that made the kwami. Mason once thought it was because of us losing our powers. It caused a chain reaction inside of us that slowly started to change us.

I opened the door, letting the heating in the building warm me. Opting for the stairs, I jogged up a flight, opening the door before going to my room, leaving the door open so they knew I was here.

Each model had a small room, complete with a closet, a large mirror, and a chair. Everything was white, excluding the black model chair, the bronze mirror, and the table under the mirror, which was a dark color. Besides the table, a mini fridge stocked with drinks and healthy snacks. On the ceiling, a curved upward light, and in each corner of the room, white shelves lined all the way up. The floor was tile, but a large rug had been placed down. One window was on the side of the room, far from the door, letting in natural light.

I went to the fridge, pulling out a small packet of cheese. Unwrapping it, I saw Plagg come out, waiting impatiently. Giving it to him, he almost squealed in delight before flying up to a top shelf, out of view as he ate.

I barely had time to sit down in the chair before my boss came in. "Oh, Adrian! You're here earlier the usual! Came to get this done early, why?" He leaned forward. "Someone waiting for you?"

It scared me sometimes how easy he could read me. Instead of showing it, I smiled. "Mr. Gracestone, that's not it at all. I just came early."

Mr. Gracestone was a very tall, very skinny man. His dark skin contrasted with his dark purple suit and blue eyes. His hair was put up with gel, blonde highlights weaving through his naturally dark brown hair. He was lanky, but not enough for it to make him look unattractive.

He smiled knowingly, but took my excuse. "Well then, I'll get the stylist in here right away. Here's your clothes count today, only two more outfits after this one, you'll be done lickity-split!"

Mr. Gracestone seemed like a fun guy, but I've seen him in a darker light before. A stubborn guy was trying to get with an unwanting female model. When he finally pushed her against the wall, Gracestone came from nowhere, beating the man, then suing him for all he was worth. The camera footage is still passed around. No one could believe that this thin man did it.

"I'd like that, Mr. Gracestone." I said politely as he left the room. I looked out the window, wondering where Netta was. "I'd like that a lot."

* * *

 **GOD DAM!**

 **Guys, you have no idea how surprised I am, like how?! I posted this yesterday, and already, five favorites _and_ likes! Like, in less than one day.**

 **I was so surprised, that I spent most of today writing this chapter so you can read it. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Note; My chapter updating might be long at some points.**

 **PS- I have nothing against the names Mary and Aiden, I think their lovely names.**

 **PPS- Fred and George, sorry I had to. This isn't a crossover, it just popped into my mind.**

 **Review Please! Any questions i'll answer.**


	3. Chapter 3: New

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _New things become old_**

 _'Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.'_

 _-_ _Denis Waitley_

* * *

 **Adrian**

I shifted, moving my heads every which way and turning my feet to different sides. This, surprisingly, isn't the first time I've ever been in this business. I wasn't called a natural for nothing.

Right before pictures were invented, while we were in Italy, during our last half of a year stay, people started to take a noticing in us. We weren't really surprised, since all the immortals in general were beautiful, it was apart of the ageless beauty we got from not dying. Our friend, Anay, always said we had more than everyone else, but we never really thought about it that way. But since there weren't pictures, entire groups of people would stop us, so there friend hiding could get a quick stretch. They thought they were hiding them from us, but we always knew, so it became our little game. We would pose, stay still, let them get the sketch, and leave. If we run into them later, we'd ask to see the picture, and see who did the better pose.

I always thought Netta did better, but she always thought it was me. Compared to beauty, though, Netta knocked everyone out of the park. For some reason, it's physically impossible to cut her long waves shorter than shoulder blades, but she still manages to make it work. Over the years, her childish face sculpted into a young woman, cheeks becoming flat, lips not to plump, eyes shaping beautifully. She looks older than I do, actually. More like a 17 year old than 15.

The photographer stopped taking pictures, and I was rushed back to my room with new clothes. A dark hoodie with a matching beanie, and a neck chain. They didn't give me any new pants so I just changed my shirt. Plagg had raided the fridge again, and was helping himself to another piece of cheese.

They stylized my hair and face again. More pictures were taken, and I did each pose in a lazy stupor, waiting to be done. The faster this was done, the faster I could get home. Maybe she was waiting for me there.

"Adrian! Give them more passion! Plus d'équilibre!" Mr. Gracestone said, walking past my shooting room. I smiled, trying a little harder. I could respect a man who knew so much, because even while he could never go against me, he knew things I didn't, just because I was in a child's body, and I can't get far in life with that.

At one point, I decided to go to an university in London. That meant I had to go to school before, but I had learned that stuff so long ago, before Netta had made a lot of it. I passed highest in each class, and skipped a couple grades. In the ten years apart that time, I came back with a college degree for _Andrew Ratfield._

But it's hard for adults to listen to children, even if the child is smarter than they are. When we were recognized as gods, some adults still didn't listen. I mean, we told Alexander not to pass this _one_ area, and what did he do? The Great passed it, then died of sickness. Told his father to pay attention to his murder-loving son, and he didn't. So he died as well. Cocky family, they were.

The photographer stopped, and i was shooed into my room again, with a whole new sleepwear outfit. Plagg looked down at it as I changed, and cackled.

"You look like a little baby!" He laughed, almost falling off his shelf. I pulled the shirt over my head and growled at the little cat, before opening the door. The hair stylist pulled me to the chair, and luckily, she couldn't seem to hear Plagg's tiny mewls of laughter.

"We'll ruffle this up. You won't need much with you face this time." The stylist muttered absentmindedly. She pulled out a brush and comb, and went to work. "You're mostly suppose to look like you've just woken up…"

After she was done, I walked back into the photoroom. This time, the fall colored background was white. I stepped up on the stand and yawned. I need more coffee.

"Yes...Yes! More of that! More yawning! You are very sleepy!" The photographer almost yelled. I blinked, but went with it, stretching. If I could use cat-like sleepiness to my advantage, I would. I just couldn't wait to get home, though I'll have to clean out that other room, I've been storing at least fifty pillows in there so I can cat-nap whenever needed. It's the curse of a cat, I swear.

Once the photographer was done, I was given the pair of clothes I need to wear next weekend. I walked to the coffee machine, setting it up before going to my room. Plagg had started to doze on the window, half hanging off. I chuckled lightly, going in the closet for some clothes of my I kept there. Normal jeans, black and green shirt, white jacket. I didn't need shoes, because the boots were actually mine.

Scooping up Plagg, I gently placed him in my pocket. He murmured something, but didn't wake. I grabbed my coffee on the way out, and sipped it. Taking the elevator, I walked out of the business building into afternoon air. There was a cat outside, and it walked up to me, sniffing before rubbing my legs. I smiled, taking another sip of my coffee before looking for a taxi.

No taxi.

I frowned at my bad luck, before turning the way to my apartment, and walking. The cat, a silver blue cat that looked quiet rare, weaved in between my legs as I went.

"Plagg, get your girlfriend off me." I grumbled. Plagg dazely poked his head out, yawning before looking down. He hissed, but it just drew the cat's attention. Almost making me spill my coffee, the cat pounced into my arms, nuzzling it's nose into my pocket. Plagg yelped and hissed again, trying to hide deeper in my pocket as the cat licked him.

I laughed, taking a better look at the cat. Guessing it was a she, I noticed how pretty is was. It's fur was blue and silver, almost matching Netta's hair. The cat's eyes were a deep green, and she seemed pretty relaxed.

Finally making my way home, I hid the cat -she wouldn't leave my arms- as I passed a desk at the front, going to the elevator. Pressing my button, I waited as it went to my stop. There were only two doors on my floor, like every other floor. I finished my coffee, placing it down on the ground as I took my free hand to open the door.

As the door open, Plagg flew out, the cat jumping up to catch him. "Leave me alone, you stupid cat! You're not my type!" He said, flying up as the cat swiped at him. He wasn't looking, and he ran into a wall.

I was starting to like this cat.

"I might just have to keep you." I mused out loud for Plagg to hear. He hissed, which made me continue. "I think, I'll name her… Mari."

The cat stopped for a moment, purring as if she like the name. She forgot about Plagg, stalking to a barstool by the kitchen island, hopping into it. She curled into the chair, and slept.

"You just picked up a hitchhiker." Plagg grumbled. "Tikki won't like this!" He whined, hiding behind my head when the cat yawned.

"Tikki won't care too much. She knows who you really like." I told him. "Besides, you're the jealous one in that relationship."

He groaned again, and I laughed, walking to the guest room. Pillows scattered the floor, and, against my better judgement, I flopped into the mass of fluffy heaven. My eyes closed, and I sank into a light sleep.

.

 _Rian…_

 _Drian…_

 _Adrian!_

I jolted awake, flailing. Plagg floated above me, usual smirking face hard, and a little nervous. It threw me off, Plagg doesn't wake people, or cats, from naps. It's his common courtesy. "What is it?"

He did a flip in mid-air, another sign of his nervous energy. "Something happened outside, and it's not normal… I think it's _him_."

My stomach touched my toes. _Him? Already?_ Taking a breath, I calmed myself. "What outside? Does it need our _special_ help?"

Plagg tapped his small paws together. "It's not him, but I can tell it's the magic of his Kwami, Nooroo. But, if it is that magic, then our magic can cancel it, maybe do even more. That _special thing_ would be of use."

I steeled my nerves again. Gabe was close by, but so was Netta! Did Gabe find her?! "Alright, let's not waste time." I breathed. "Plagg, do your thing."

I raised a hand, emphasizing the ring on one of my fingers. Plagg glowed, before turning into a green wisp and disappearing into the ring. I felt myself grow strong, my vision grow better. I felt like I had back thousands of years ago. But I knew the truth, my power to destroy was weak. I could only use it once. Another thing that brought me comfort was Plagg, since he was a part of my soul, I instantly felt better when he merged back with me.

My outfit was black and padded, my green eyes catty and my mask covering only my eyes and nose. Plagg told me that our magic made it impossible to tell who was under the mask, unless we wanted them to know. My tail was not a belt (I had a dream it was once) and was more of a fuzzy substance, like my ears. My hair became longer and more messy.

From behind my back, I drew my baton. It, due to magic, could extend as far as I wanted it to, or could break into two. I just learned that there was a fencing sword (much like my old one) encased inside the baton. It was like Netta and her yoyo. It wasn't deadly, but she did have a dagger concealed inside of it, for extra measures.

I opened my balcony door, checking around to make sure no one could see. The sun was setting outside, so I must've been sleeping for a while. I was worried, why wasn't Netta here yet?

I jumped off my balcony, onto the roof a little while away. Landing into a crouch, I jumped up, running along the rooftops.

 _Where are they?_ I thought lowly. In my head, I could hear Plagg hiss lowly, checking around for magical residue.

 _Keep going forward, it's collected there…_ Suddenly, Plagg purred. _And get there quickly, you're as fast as a turtle._

I didn't get why he wanted to rush so quickly, since we could die there. I jumped to another rooftop, and barely had time to duck as an icy blast sailed over my head, narrowly missing me. "What the f-"

"Here Kitty Kitty Kitty!" A high pitched, squeaky voice came from nowhere. I looked around, using my heightened senses to my advantage. I couldn't see her, she was hiding, but I could smell her.

I ducked under another beam of stormy ice, and got a better look at it. It was dark grey, icicles inside what looked like a cloud that kept it together. Smaller pieces of hail, rain, and snow swirled inside. Looking towards where it was thrown, I jumped down from the roof.

I finally saw who threw it. It was a girl, younger them me, with a parasol and purple clothes. Her hair was a black grey, and she had on a moth shaped mask.

Moth shaped.

 _This is Gabe._ I thought. Plagg snarled quietly, but he seemed to only be half paying attention to the fight at hand.

"What are you doing, young lady?" I said, deepening my voice. The girl opened her mouth to answer, when a pink mask appeared over her face.

"Ah, there you are, Arden, finally figured it out, eh? No problem, you'll still die. Have you seen Netta around?" Said a voice that came from the girl but was too deep for the girl. It felt cold and detached, with a hint of malice.

"Gabe, what did you do?!" I hissed, but the mask disappeared, and the girl charged forward, parasol aimed to maim. " You cat to be kidding me…"

I didn't even mean to pun.

"Stay still! Cat!" The girl said, stabbing blindly with her parasol. I back up, out of reach, but her parasol opened, and a gust of wind blew me back into a car. She advanced quickly, face spread in a malicious grin.

Suddenly, something wrapped around the parasol, and yanked it from her arms, causing it to hit the ground a foot away. The girl changed direction to her parasol, clambering on the ground to get it.

A hand entered my vision.

"Need help, kitty?"

* * *

 ** _Plus d'équilibre- More poise_**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **This is important! Since they have their own power, akuma fights won't be the same. I find it a little unfair that Chat can't take out an akuma by himself, so to even it out, I made it so they both have to be present to take out an akuma. It's harder, but at least it's fair. I'll explain more next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4: Old

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _Meeting old friends mean more_**

 _Life is not about how you survive the storm, it's about how you dance in the rain._

 _\- (Anonymous)_

* * *

 **Adrian**

Not many things could give my heart a jump start anymore. I've dulled my emotions over the years, stayed mostly to myself, made only a few friends. Heck, I've been here almost a year, and I've only made two friends, Nino and Alya.

But after finally hearing Nettas voice again, my heart wouldn't stop beating like a hurricane.

She was in front of me, eyes smiling as big as her actual mouth. She was in a red body suit, with black patches on the sides of her waist. Her long hair was a bit shorter, put into pigtails with red ribbon. On her side, her red yoyo, covered in black spots.

I took her hand. "Hi." I breathed as she helped me up.

She looked to say something, but from the corner of my eye, I saw the girl turn to us, parasol opening and blasting a stormy mix to us.

I pushed Netta out of the way, falling with her. The blast scraped my back, but did no damage. Netta flipped away, gaining her balance before looking to me. Once seeing I was fine, she ran at the girl.

"Who are you?!" She yelled as the girl blocked a hit with her parasol. The girl backed up, trying to find a good range to hit her. I realized the parasol wasn't good short range.

"I'm Stormy Weather, and my Master wants you dead!" The girl growled back, and I attacked, my claws tearing into her parasol. It sparked, before, slowly, the fabric started to mend itself. The parasol expanded, before I moved, flipping over her head to avoid the blast. I landed next to Netta.

"What did Gabe do?" I hissed to her. She blinked rapidly, and I had a feeling she was talking to TIkki. Plagg, though, didn't really talk much during our merges, mostly because he was to lazy to speak.

Netta blinked once more, before focusing on me. "It's Gabe's special power. He makes champions. Tikki said we have to destroy the parasol."

I grumbled. "I wish Plagg was as helpful as Tikki. He just sits around all day and eats cheese… How is Tikki?"

"Doing great." Marinetta paused to dodge another blast of wind. I made a grab at her parasol again, but she kept it close, turing it so the handle slammed into my face. "You and Plagg?"

"Just fine." I murmured, clutching my mouth. Netta looked at me, but I waved her away. A growl started in my throat, and I jumped the girl. Unfortunately, while in the air, she blew me back, farther up. As I fell, fumbling to catch anything, I felt something wrap around my leg, and I suddenly stopped falling. "Thanks Netta."

Netta let go of me, spinning her yoyo while running to Stormy Weather. The girl was surprisingly nimble, jumping over her swipe at her legs, and ducking under her punch. The girl took her parasol, holding it high, before winds blasted her into the air. Suddenly, she was _flying_.

"Come on!" Netta yelled, grabbing my wrist as she tugged me to a tall building close by. THe power was off inside, but I could still see fine. Suddenly, I was in the lead, leading Netta to the stairway.

"Going up." I shouted, and once she nodded, I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. Activating my baton, we shot up, past all the stairs to the roof.

Outside, an actual hurricane seemed to be forming. Hail blasted at my face, but Netta started swinging her yoyo again, destroying an hail coming close to us. With a thought, I leaned in and whispered to her. "If you use your creation power, then I can get close enough to destroy the parasol.

Netta nodded, before looking around the roof, thinking. I scanned around too, I could see Stormy Weather coming around. There was a large billboard on the side of the roof, connected to some thin cables. On the opposite side, there were some heaters and a fan.

Netta gasped in realization, before throwing her yoyo up. In a flash of light, a black and red towel appeared, dropping into Netta's hand. "A towel?" I said skeptically.

"Trust me." She answered, before pointing to the billboard. "When I say, destroy the post at the bottom, then get ready to catch the parasol."

I nodded, running over to the billboard as Netta grabbed a thin cable, while her other hand held the towel by all four corners.

Using my own power, I crouched by the billboard. Netta stood in the middle of the roof, hands on hips while waiting for Stormy Weather to get close enough.

"What are you doing?" Stormy Weather asked, scowling in confusion as Netta just stood still, looking around at nothing.

"Distracting you." She answered simply, before running towards the fans and heating system. "Now Kitty!"

With a single touch from my clawed hand, the billboard post started to disintegrate. Stormy Weather flew out of the way as it collapsed. Netta, on the other hand, holding the towel high, jumped onto the fan. The towel caught wind, and blew her up, high enough for her to wrap the cable around Stormy's foot. As the girl tried to move farther, the cable yanked her back, causing her to lose her parasol and drop to the ground in confusion.

Netta grabbed the girl, kicking the parasol over to me as she brought the girl to the ground safely. I grabbed the parasol, snapping the handle this time instead of clawing.

The parasol disintegrated into a purple moth, which I quickly caught. The girl looked like she was about to get up, but as the parasol broke, she just slumped to the ground. Netta ran over.

"What now?" I asked. Netta shrug, but I could hear Plagg inside of me, talking. _We don't have much time. Cup the moth and crush it. Tikki will do the rest, but she can't do anything until you crush it._

I mentally shrugged, but did as told, taking the moth and squeezing it. Instead of guts coming out, dust just trickle from my hand.

Netta was quick, catching the dust in her open yoyo before closing it. Her yoyo buzzed, and when she opened it, a pure white butterfly vlew out. Netta paused for a moment, before shrugging and throwing the towel up into the air. In a burst of light, the hurricane and strange weather was all gone.

I turned to Netta, but before I could get a word out, she had planted herself at my chest arms around me in a hug. I blinked, but returned it. "I missed you." She whispered.

I stepped away, before bowing. "Missed you too, My Lady." I winked. She snorted.

"We are not bring _that_ back." She stated, crossing her arms with a smirk. "Call me Ladybug or something."

I thought for a moment. "Prefer Bugaboo? LB? But if you want a name… Chat. I shall be Chat Noir."

"Black Cat," She nodded. "Nice choice." She said, and then a beep went off from my hand. I looked down at my ring, which had turned black, and I saw only two paws left. I guess that's as much time I have left. I glanced at Netta's earrings, and saw she only had two minutes left as well.

I opened my mouth to say something, when I heard a squeal behind me. I whipped around, and to my surprise, I saw _Alya._

"Who would have thought!? Superheroes are more than just comic books and movies, and you have the truth right here for yourselves!" She said, holding up her phone to us. I turned to Netta.

"Funny." I whispered. "That's one of my school friends, she's in love with superheroes. We should go before she asks us questions."

"Good idea." Netta said, and I turned, shooting a wink at my friend before running and jumping off the rooftop. As I landed on a rooftop lower down, I tucked in my knees, rolling before jumping up. Netta swung past me, and landed besides me, and we started jumping along the rooftops. "Oh, and my name isn't Netta anymore."

I raised an eyebrow, before grabbing her arm and guiding her to an alleyway across the street from my apartment. We hit the ground, and my bodysuit disappeared, leaving me in my normal clothes. Plagg sat besides me, on my shoulder. Netta changed as well, and suddenly, she was in a white top, black jacket pink jeans and flats. Tikki, I noticed, flew into her purse immediately. Instantly, Netta shivered.

"We'll have to go shopping, it's almost winter Netta." I chuckled, wrapping an arm over her shoulders as we walked out of the alleyway. I then noticed her hair, which had been cut to middle back. "You were able to cut you hair?"

"Yep." She beamed. "Not any shorter than this. The scissors always break past this point. Many scissors have died for my cause."

"I place my other hand on my heart. "They shall be missed." I said as we passed into the apartment, warmth hitting us. The attendant raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Adrian, is this the new roommate you informed me about?" He said formally, before turning to Netta. "You remind me of a statue I saw not two days ago. You look just like the goddess."

"Thank you, Mister. And I am the new roommate. My name is Marinette." Netta said politely with a smile. Marinette, huh? I liked that.

"Welp, let's go get you settled Mari." I said, and she nodded as I guided her to the elevator. As the door closed, she left my arm and leaned against a side.

"Adrian, huh?" Netta, or maybe Mari, smirked slightly. "It suits you. And with less then a second of thought, you already thought of Mari."

"Mari suits you as well." I said, smiling. I heard a quiet burp, and Tikki finally came out, cookie crumbs dusting her face.

"Hello Adrian! Plagg!" As she said Plagg's name, she flew to him, wrapping him a hug so hard that he flew off my shoulder, where he was perched. Plagg omfed, but hugged her back. "Good to see you too, Tikki."

Ne-Mari smiled, when I had a thought. The elevator opened, and I turned to the kwami. "Hey, uh, Tikki? We got a new pet."

* * *

 **Happy thanksgiving! I literally woke up, at, like 5, to write this and my other story to get this out. I already had half of this chapter written, and then I have to help make dinner, and OMG PLEASE I NEED TO SLOW DOWN! I need to breath, I don't think I've breathed since I went to sleep.**

 **I think I'm dead.**

 **Well, yeah. So with the akuma thing.**

 **Chat has to destroy the akuma, and then Ladybug recreates it. I like that better, since they have to relay on eachother. And I will make a chapter for most of the akuma in season 1.**

 **Plus THIS IS BEFORE SEASON 2 SO DON"T EXPECT IT TO GO WITH IT**

 **And**

 **i KNEW HE WAS HAWKMOTH I KNEW IT BEFORE I EVEN MET HIM.**

 **Maybe a Marinette Chap next! Maybe!**


	5. Chapter 5: Memory

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _Your memory gets hazy_**

 **Marinette**

I woke up the next day slightly sore, but fine either way. To my surprise, Plagg was curled up on my chest, purring soundly. I don't know when he got there, but it must of been after Tikki went to sleep. She was on my stomach.

"Plagg." I whispered, and he opened one golden green eye. "Arde-Adrian's going to be worried if you're not there when he wakes up."

Plagg yawned, staying quiet for the sleeping Tikki. "He's already awake. He wanted me to wake you up, but you were so warm… I took a nap instead."

I looked at the clock by the bed. 7:15. Why this early? I voice my thoughts to him. He shrugged.

"He wanted you to know why he wouldn't be here when you woke up. He started going to school again."

I remembered what he says about Alya, and I nodded, getting up. I should have extra documents, birth certificates, ex cetera. "Well then, school, here I come."

"You don't have to go."Plagg said. "Adrian just started to go because he was bored and lonely."

"I'll be bored and lonely if I don't go." I said, picking up Tikki and placing her on a pillow. Getting up, I scanned my suitcase before picking up a bag. Papers filled to the brim, and I filled through them, picking up a few. "Plus, I want to meet Alya."

Plagg muttered something, and flew to sit with Tikki as I changed clothes. Placing the papers in my bag, I left my new room. Adrian's new cat, (I wasn't going to say that I wasn't happy that he named her after me. It's a beautiful cat, after all.) Mari, was snuggled up next to Adrian, who was drinking coffee. He loved his coffee.

He raised an eye at my ready attire. "Have plans?" He asked, taking a subtle sip of his coffee. Mari mewled and jumped off the couch.

"Yep." I nodded, smiling as I held up my documents. "I'm going to school as a new exchange student."

He stared for a long moment, before a large, cat-like smile emerged on his face. His eyes glinted. "That so?"

I nodded, rolling my eyes as my hands settled on my hips. "Yes, Adrian, what's got you so catty this morning?"

He snorted. "Im always catty."

I moved over, snatching his coffee to take a sip myself as he pouted. Making for a weak attempt at grabbing the coffee, I moved it away. Taking another sip, I gave it back, bringing my hand up to his hair to scratch it. "Thanks, Kitty."

"You're so nice." He grumbled, a purr starting in the back of his throat against his will. He leaned his head on my shoulder, leaning into my touch. "I don't want to go to school anymore…"

I stopped, standing up. "Sorry, kitty, but I want to check out Paris. I've been here two days and I can tell it's changed."

"They kept the Eiffel tower." He said. "Ashi would be glad. She worked so long on it."

Adrian made sure Mari would be fine, and we woke our kwami. Plagg opted to spend time in my bag so I carried both kwami as we made our way to the elevator.

OOoo_ooOO

School wasn't too far away. As soon as we reached the school, Adrian grabbed my arm. "There's something you need to know before you go in and see it."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

He licked his lips. "Some school kids here, especially Nino and Alya, they look alot like, some of the immortals."

"Descendants?" I asked. Adrian nodded.

"I think. Then, there's this other girl, Chl-"

"Adrian!!!"

I was ashamed to say that the girl had snuck up on me. In a wave of blond, this girl had tackled Adrian into a hug, kissing his cheeks. My eyes widened, and I looked away. Adrian got a girlfriend?

I didn't like it.

Adrian pulled the girl off of him, and I realized something. She looked identical to Nonna, the immortal with the bee kwami. I had been there when she died.

"Chloe." Adrian greeted, keeping her at arm's length. She smiled at him, then saw me. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "This is my best friend, Marinette. She just moved here."

Chloe looked like she wanted to argue about who was who's best friend, but she kept her mouth shut. I only got a nod before she started fawning over Adrian again. I could tell, though. They were not dating.

Phew.

Adrian excused himself, and we walked to the principal's office. It was surprisingly easy, only taking ten minutes at most. It probably helped that Adrian recommended me, and, apparently, he was a golden boy at school.

Our kwami stayed quiet as we entered our classroom. I took an empty seat behind Adrian. The class was half full, and the seat by him was taken by a boy that looked strangely like a young Wu. Not exactly like him, with darker skin, but similar.

Adrian introduced us, apparently, his name was Nino. We hit it off when he started talking about mixing tracks from two of my favorite bands.

Adrian, though, didn't know of them. "I feel left out." He grumbled.

"Adrian, you look like a child." Someone said, and a girl entered the classroom. Again, she distantly reminded me of Fred, before he and his twin went crazy with red hair dye. Again, from whatever genes, she was darker than him. But, I could see his smirk on her face, his features, she even had his blue eyes. She was clutching her phone like it was gold. "You have to see what I've got!"

Surprisingly, horridly, she had recorded our entire fight. And posted it. "I've started a new blog!" She squealed. "I haven't thought of a good name for it, maybe Ladyblog, because she's a ladybug or-"

"What about the guy?" Nino asked. "Maybe a mash of their names. Like, I dunno, The LC Blog or something."

She bit her lip. "I'm thinking, but I've already got a thousand views, and 8 hundred likes… And I've added a page where viewers can add pictures of them if they take any. People are going crazy about them! They're superheroes!"

"Sounds like you're the one going crazy of them." Adrian murmured, before brightening. "Hey, Alya, I want you to meet my best friend, Mari. We were close before I moved here."

"Nice to meet cha gurl." She says, sliding into the seat next to me. "I have a thought on who Ladybug might be, but I have no clue on Chat Noir… That's what people are calling them. I like it."

I spoke up. "Well, looking at Chat Noir, his eyes are catty. It be hard to figure it out, he might not even have green eyes really." Throwing them off the trail since day 1, good job Mari.

Alya snapped her lips. "Looks a bit like Adrian, distant relative?"

Adrian drew a face. "Don't remember anyone who could wield a baton and cough up hairballs."

He didn't mention that he was an only child, that his parents had died thousands of years ago, that his closest family he had was being killed off by someone he also thought as family. That he could be killed next.

"My Uncle Jack use to pee in a litter box." Nino offered. I tucked in a giggle. Alya have him a knowing, inside smirk that shared emotions I couldn't reach.

The class was a combination of history and English. I understood history pretty well, but English, besides speaking and reading it, changed so much. Not to mention French. I was so happy to learn that people in Paris could speak both.

I was taking down notes when someone spilled water over them. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

It was a blonde, with sky blue eyes. She held a hand over her mouth and tears held in her eyes. I shook my head. "It's okay. I'm Marinette. You're?"

"Oh, Rose." She smiled, before ducking her head and moving to the back. I grumbled slightly at the ruined notes and fished out more paper when another paper hit my desk, orderly notes all written down. I looked at Adrian.

He shrugged. "Don't look at me like that, Mari. You're a clumsy person, I knew you would lose them at some point."

I smirked slightly at him, but stopped before the teacher could say anything.

School ended soon after, and I walked with Adrian and Nino home since Alya lived the other way. Nino seemed excited about something.

"Dude, you should be more popped for this! It's your birthday tomorrow! 16, right?"

Adrian snorted. "Actually, it's 2,998, almost 3,000." Nino went blank. "Just kidding, I'm turning 16."

I giggled a little. We didn't know our actual birthday, the calendar changed so much over the years. I just let Adrian decided a date, and I choose around three months after. It's worked so far. "He's never been a birthday person."

Nino's eyes lightened. "You gotta help me throw him a party!"

Adrian shook his head. "Nino, it's fine. I don't even care for my birthday." He clenched his first a Little, before walking forward a bit, ending the conversation.

I gave him a sympathetic smile. "Something bad happened on his birthday a while back, so it's bittersweet. Don't worry about it."

Nino sighed. "Oh, now I feel bad." He frowned. "That's not fair to him at all!"

I shook my head. "He's use to it. I'm actually a little surprised he told you about his birthday, he usually keeps it hidden."

Nino places a hand on his head, watching his house come closer. "Not fair at all."

He left, leaving me with a cold feeling. I jogged to catch up with Adrian. "Adrian, don't be like that."

Adrian mumbled something, before speaking louder. "He doesn't need to worry about my stupid made up birthday. All it does is bring misfortune and death."

I frowned. "Nonna's death was not your fault. She was the one who found us, she was the one who decided her fate."

He was still upset. "She wouldn't of looked if it wasn't my birthday. Her first words to me was 'happy birthday.' Because of me, she was killed." He paused for a second, leaning against a wall. "What if we're the only ones left? Mason could've died, we haven't seen her. The twins have been missing for to long, and I'm worried about them. If we defeat Gabe, would it even matter anymore? People I thought I would have forever… they've died."

I walked up to him, giving him a hug. When we parted, I punched him in the chest. "Don't talk like that!" I scowled. "If I gave up, then i would of died a thousand years ago!"

Adrian frowned and went to speak when a boyish laugh echoed around. Suddenly, he was surrounded in a large bubble. "Time to party!"

 **I'm backkk! Sorry, my laptop broke. This is IPad magic!**


	6. Chapter 6: Read

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _You start to read faces_**

 **Marinette**

It was Nino's voice, but the costume was all wrong. Blues and yellows and purples. I went to move when I backed up into Adrian's bubble, it engulfing me. I yelped and fell backwards into the strange substance .

Adrian helped me up as we started floating into the sky. From our view, we could see other bubbles, trapping other people and things. I noticed, all kids grabbed were going to the park, while the adults were heading straight for the tower.

Nino, whatever happened to him, stood in the center of it, stealing things and teens and placing them in the park. Adrian looked up at me, then down at the ground 200 feet away. "Think I'll land on my feet?"

Plagg and Tikki finally made their appearance, popping out of my bag. Plagg grumbled. "All this magic woke me up, what's going on? We're really high."

"Are we in a bubble?" Tikki asked childishly. "Can I pop it please?"

She gave me bug eyes, when a chuckle started behind us . I shot around, seeing Nino floating in the air, a moth mask over his face. His voice had deepened into Gabe's. "Little Tikki, you couldn't pop it if you tried. You couldn't possibly even try. This bubble's made of-"

The bubble popped suddenly.

And they were falling from cloud level.

"Tikki!" I screamed, but she just shrugged. She's always grouchy after naps. "We'll talk about this later! Can you please transform me?!"

Suddenly, in a blur of red, I felt lighter, my vision slightly better. I picked up my yo-yo, hooking it to a building top and grabbing a still transforming Adrian. I landed in a crouch as he rolled along the roof before catching himself.

I got up to brush myself off, when a bubble came flying towards me. I flipped to move out of the way, before having to duck under two other bubbles. Chat batted off his killer bubbles with his baton, before beckoning me over.

"Think you can keep them off my back for a moment?" He grunted, jumping to miss one aiming for his legs. I nodded, letting him jump off the back of the building.

A moment later, a baton went flying at Nino from behind, hitting his head and dazing him. The bubbles stopped immediately, floating to the ground and popping. Nino wobbled, before falling down.

I sensed an opening. I scanned the boy, before realizing his entire outfit, none of it was black or purple. Except for the wand. I ran forward, making a grab at the bubble wand.

"Netta! No!" Chat yelled at me, fear laced in his voice. Enough for him to use my name. I skidded to a stop in front of Nino, arms out to brace for any attacks.

It took me a second to realize. Nino wasn't dazed, he was faking. As I tried to jump back, three bubbles stuck to me. One tick, then they exploded.

I was thrown backwards, passing buildings by the dozens before hitting back first on a brick building. I groaned, surprised that I wasn't as hurt as I'd thought I be.

My earrings beep.

"What?" I murmured, cupping my earrings before moving behind a dumpster to hide. Nino seemed to busy, dealing with Adrian, who was running him away from me.

A moment passed, and I detransformed without my permission. Tikki landed in my lap. Her side had turned a purple the color of Nooroo, which spreads to a wing on her back, licking towards her middle. A large bruise. "Tikki? Are you okay?"

Tikki nodded weakly. "Yes, Marinette. I took most of the damage for you, but since I only have half of your soul, it hurt a lot more than usual." She smiled. "I'll be fine."

I bit my lip. "We need to find you some food. A bakery nearby? You're vulnerable like this. Transforming is out of the option."

"Don't worry, My Bugaboo."

I would of scoffed if I wasn't so happy to see him. Chat dropped down from the roof, two cookies in hand. She place one in my hand by Tikki, who scooted over to eat. I grinned. "Chat. I'm happy you're okay."

He plopped down, Indian style with a cat smile. "Course I'm fine Nets. I'm worried about you. You can't transform until Tikki is okay." He tapped his chin. "I don't like this. Gabe's singling out people now. Maybe people close to us."

I frowned, before an idea formed. "Hey, do you think you could drop me off at the park? Those bubbles caught everyone in the city, maybe they got Gabe too, and he's technically still a teenager, so he'd go to the park."

Chat almost hissed. "No way Mari! You're not going to confront him while Tikki's hurt. You're basically missing half a soul! Those are important!"

I gave him a look. "I'll be careful. Now, either you could take me there safely, or I could walk there, out in the open to Nino or Gabe." I smiled innocently.

Chat groaned, but picked me up, waiting forTikki to climb into my bag, climbing through alleyways to stay hidden while we went. After almost no time, Chat set me down with a soft glare. "Don't get hurt."

I scratched him behind the ears. "Course, kitty."

It took me a moment to find a side entrance that wasn't guarded, but Nino didn't cover the trap door on the stage, which lead to a building across the way. I blended in perfectly with the rest of the teenagers. Where were the kids? Babies? Home by themselves?

Oh no.

I found Alya and tapped her shoulder. She squeaked slightly, but stopped at my sight. "Marinette? Thank god you're okay."

I smiled. "Thanks, and you too. What's going on?"

Alya tapped her phone against her thigh, a tight lip frown on her face. "Nothing good. We're trapped here, no exits. There's party favors here, and it seems like the bubble guy wants to throw a party for someone."

I flinched, but hid it. Alya continued. "The superheroes don't seem to be doing any good. We all saw them go up in a bubble, and fall down. I got it on video. Someone else posted a video that I put on the main page. Apparently, Ladybug's hurt. I don't think Chat will do good without her. They're a duo, not a single act."

I nodded. "Alya, I need you to use that LC Blog prestige that you might have. I think I found a way out."

She blinked. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah, there's a trapdoor under the stage. I'm going to go through it. If I don't come back in ten minutes, gather everyone up and start sending them through."

Alya nodded, a determined look on her face. I ran back to the stage and dropped in, climbing through and checking the empty building. Ten minutes later, the first boy, a guy from my class, Nathanael, climbed through. He saw me and smiled. "Thank you."

I tilted my head and smiled back, confused at the blush I saw. "No problem. Happy to help!"

Soon, teens were flooding out from the park, and I directed them through back doors and alleys. In a few hours, I could say most of the teens in Paris were back at their homes.

"No!" I heard Nino yell as Alya finished checking the park, climbing back through. "So, no one wants to party?!"

Alya squeaked as I pushed her down behind the reception area, before popping my head up to look around. Nino flew by our area, and I had a sudden thought.

"Chat..?" I whispered, scanning the area. He wasn't there.

My breathing started to pick up, but I forced myself to stop. I would have felt it happen. Tikki would've felt it happen. Everything's fine…

That didn't stop the tears that attacked my eyes, wanting to be let out. Where was he? Where is he? Come on Arden…

"Hey, Bubbler!" I finally heard. From my spot, I could see him on a roof. Nino looked over in his direction, and Chat grinned, before sticking out his tongue and turning around and jumping off the roof. I smiled as Nino bursted off into his direction.

I turned to Alya. "Your House seems a little too close to this mess. You can crash at Adrian's and I's apartment."

Alya pursed her lips, before smirking. "You guys live together? You sure you're not more than friends..?"

I squelched the blush that rose to my cheeks. In all my years, I never had a crush. Before this all happened, when I was 10, I was told I was to be married to him, since we were the only children at our village during that time. I didn't really mind, and he didn't either. When we changed, we still were supposed to marry, but we just didn't think it really mattered anymore.

"Nah, just friends." I said, before following her to her house. At some point, we ended up on the rooftops, after Chat hid us from Nino, who was flying by. He left before Alya could get a word from him.

As we came up to our apartment, I checked on Tikki. She was mostly healed, but i didn't want to rush anything.

"Mari." Alya said. "There's no roof access on your apartment."

God dang it.

I looked down to my apartment floor, where Mari was dozing on the balcony. It was to high from the ground, but too low to just jump to. Then, almost like my Ladybug vision, i saw a fire escape on another building, just a little above my balcony.

I had an idea.

"Hold on to my backpack, Alya." I said, handing her it. Before she could ask, I stepped to the edge of the roof, and jumped.

I didn't land on the fire escape, it was too far for that, but my hand grabbed the railing as my foot hit the side of the building, balancing me. I grinned, before holding out my extra hand. "Come on Alya!"

" _What?!?! How did you- Why did you- What the f-_ That's a ten foot jump at least!"

I shrugged, realizing that normal people might not be able to jump that and land it perfectly. "I did a lot of gymnastics when I was younger. "I babbled. "THey said I was good. Now, come on, jump and grab my hand. I'll catch you."

Alya bit her lip before smiling weakly. "Hehe, yolo, I guess."

She put my backpack on, before climbing to the roof edge and jumping. I caught her hand, grunting as I felt my muscles shift. To a normal person, that should of definitely dislocated a shoulder, but I was still resiliant, and if Alya was a descendant of Fred, then she was as well.

Her hand started slipping from mine. I held back a gasp, before using my leg hanging off the fire escape to hook around the bar my hand was on. I hooked my other leg, before letting my hand release the bar. Alya, quiet scared, made a quick grab for my free hand. We looked like traipse artists.

"Alya, trust me." I said. "Let go of my hand."

The panic cleared from her eyes, and she let go of the hand she snatched. Quickly, I grabbed her not free wrist with my free hand, before letting go of her hand. She caught on, grabbing my wrist as well. I smirked. "Grabbing a person's wrist is a better way then hand. Now, I'm going to swing you over to our balcony."

Alya nodded, and I arched my back, letting the motions swing my back and forth. After a few swings, I let Alya go, and she rolled onto my balcony. As she recovered, I switched, so my hands held the bar. With a few more swings, I could jump off and land on the balcony.

"Mari, that was awesome!" Alya squealed. "I wish I'd gotten that on video!"

I smiled at the compliment, before thinking. "I'll be back. I need to find Adrian." And before Alya could say anything, I was gone.

By the time I reached an alley outside, I could transform again. Idid so quickly, jumping onto the roofs to look around for Chat. After a moment, I saw him batting off some bubbles that wouldn't pop. Nino grumbled at him, sending more bubbles with his wand.

Using my yo-yo, I swung it, wrapping around the bubble stick, before yanking. The stick flew out of Nino's hand, which Chat caught.

I tagteamed him. "Break the wand! I got Nino!"

Nino wailed for a moment, diving for his wand before I stopped him. My yo-yo wrapped around his waist, pulling him back, where I kicked him. He grunted, landing on his back before sliding to a stop. With no warning, he ran forward, and we exchanged a few hits, before he pushed me back.

I swept his legs, and as he started to come back up, he stopped, slumping on the ground. "Ladybug!"

I turned around, finding Chat holding dust in his hands. I ran over, opening my yo-yo to catch the dust. I cleansed the butterfly before turning to the wreckage. "I never used Lucky Charm, how am I supposed to clean this all up?"

"Use it now." Chat shrugged, before looking at his ring. "I have only 2 minutes left."

I tried his idea, and it worked better then i thought. Bubbles and wreckage disappeared, and I could see the parents in Paris return to their homes. Chat started moving to an alley, and I followed him, after discovering that Nino had disappeared.

He detransformed, and I followed suit. He was caked in sweat, and I felt bad for a moment. "Arden?" I said quietly, my accent coming out. "How are you?"

He panted. "Fine, Netta." He stood up slowly, picking Plagg up from where he was sleeping on the floor. "Just some complications. We're good."

I tilted my head at his words, but nodded either way. "Okay then."

And we started walking home.


	7. Chapter 7: Young

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _The young are more pure_**

 _'This is my favorite chapter so far for many different reasons'_

 _-Author_

* * *

 **Adrian**

Complications was putting it lightly.

Almost the entire time I was fighting Nino, or, the Bubbler, by myself, Hawkmoth was taunting me. It angered my more than I thought it would. He had the nerve. It might not mean much now, but I'm still older than him. None of the immortals but Mari and I had to deal with disease and famine. They grew up in a prosperous place. Gabe let it turn him into a brat.

The thought had me thinking, long into the night. I sat on the couch, my eyes staring at a spot behind the bright tv screen. Mari was draped across the couch, head on my lap as she slept.

All of the other immortals were a little aloof. They never knew the fear of dying, but they still hadn't let it turn them. They knew they were given a power by the gods, so they tried to be humble, but the worship did get to there heads.

That was one of the reasons Mason was the third in command. She was the third oldest out of all of us, almost three years old. When she was one, she was fatally sick, and no one thought she would make it. She knew first hand the thought of dying. And even after changing, she was always paranoid.

Wu was also very respectable in that case, but it grew on him. At first, only a hundred or so years after they were born, he found a drawing in a cave, and depicted it. It was older then us, something we didn't know. Wu let it go to his head, he knew something Mari and I didn't, which hadn't happened before. Soon, he was gathering up as much strange information as he knew. Soon, he was bosting to the other immortals, about how he should be in charge, because he was the wisest.

We knew about what he was saying, but didn't say anything about it until he started to mock us. After a particularly bad bout he decided to say right to my face, Netta groaned and snapped her fingers.

Instantly, a large stone cage fell ontop of him. Wu squeaked and looked around, terrified. See, Netta and I had been designing different kinds of cages and fences in our spare time, since everyone was getting tired of moving around and being nomads. Instead of following a herd, we would domesticate it.

But no one knew about it, and so the thought of something an Immortal couldn't get out of that he didn't even know existed was probably terrifying.

We left him there for 34 hours. We don't need to eat, so he was fine, but the small city of nomads we had with us would come to watch him. I think some legends about a chained up god came from that.

I broke the cage just by blinking, and I could tell Wu had learned.Yes, he was better then the average man, but there was a reason things were the way they are. He still gathered books and knowledge, and after a while, he started to look older. At first, we were scared that he was aging, but Wu was never worried for some reason.

I guess the only other two besides Mason who never really cared for the worship was Fred and George. Sure, they basked in the glory, but all they really wanted to do was prank people. It's hard to prank people when everyone is always around you watching everything you do.

They never really let the fame go to their heads. They always said it was because their ego was 'too big and couldn't take anymore.' But it was strange, because they never shyed away from the spotlight, but was never directly in it either.

It was the same with Alya, actually, if I thought about it. She owned a popular blog, but her blog wasn't focused on her. It was focused on us. She pranked Nino a while back, and it took him forever to find out who did it, because she had a better poker face then me. Before she dyed her hair, it was the exact same brownish red that Fred's was all those years ago, and the exact same eyes.

It must be something special in our genes. Even though it was probably thousands of years after Fred, she still looked like him, and probably so does her mom or dad.

I sighed, looking down at Mari. Her hair was out from it's two pigtails, and it tumbled down her shoulders and onto the couch. Her lips were parted in a silent snore as hair covered her eyelashes. She was the definition of a goddess.

But was she the last goddess? Was I the last god? Where we the last immortals? I would like to say I would've felt it, if anything happened, but I don't have that power. I would have to wait until Mari started crying to know someone had died. And my power was different. I hated it.

Mason told us. 14 bodies found, 13 buried. All that time, was it 16 bodies found and 13 buried? Now, is it 17? Was it only the three of us left? I refused to believe it.

Even though I refused to, my body still started to quiver at the thought. It angered me, what Gabe was doing. Why was he doing it, the bastard?!?!

The tv flickered, turning black and engulfing the room in darkness, before turning back on and playing like nothing happened.

Did I do that?

Or something else?

My mind started running, and my breathing started picking up. Was someone here? Did something happened? In only a few moments, the paranoia I had collected over the years started reacting. My adrenaline started pumping through my body, but I couldn't move, or I would wake Mari.

Suddenly, I couldn't breath. Every breath I took didn't even seem to work through my lungs. I stifled a cough. The darkness around me seemed to condense. It was coming closer. What was this?

"Adren…" Mari murmured, causing me to freeze. She still seemed fully asleep. "...okay?"

I was almost wheezing by this point, but I forced myself to stop with a gulp. My eyes fluttered over to the tv, underneath it, where Plagg and Tikki were sleeping on a pillow. I forced myself to take slower breaths. Was this an akuma? One meant to scare me?

I rubbed my head, realizing I was sweating torrents. I felt hot, adnormally hot.

Mari murmured something else, and I made up my mind. In a second, I had scooped her up, carrying her bridal style to her room, pulling the covers away before tucking her in.

I went to my bed, falling face first onto the covers. I checked my phone, groaning when I realized that Mr. Gracestone had texted me a while ago.

 _Photoshoot tomorrow Adrian. 5pm. Bring Narsa's 3 designs… and your friend. ;)_

He loved emojis, for some reason. I never had a text he'd sent me that doesn't have one. It took me a moment to realize he had said something about bring Mari. That might be fun for her. At least it be better for me.

All of a sudden, I was really tired. Was this an akuma?

My eyes closed without permission, and I welcomed the sleep. Even though I felt like someone might murder me in my sleep. Oh well.

 _"What are you doing this time?"_

 _Fred grinned, his face beaming in unspuished joy as he held something wrapped up. "Nothing bad this time, Adrey."_

 _George stood next to him, almost as happy as his twin. "On the contrary, my brother has finally done something great with his life."_

 _Fred fixed him with a glare, but everyone could tell it was fake. Catching the happiness, I started to smile too. "What is this great thing, then?"_

 _Fred coo'd a little, something I've never heard him do, before pulling back a little bit of the blanket that was wrapped around a… baby._

 _It was a boy wrapped in orange and white. His eyes were opened slightly, a mix of brown and blue. Reddish brown tuffs of hair covered his head. He gurgled for a moment, before turning to me. His eyes widened, before he burped and giggled at it._

 _"Oh my…" I placed a finger on the little baby's cheek, and he giggled again, small hands making a grab for it. "Fred… you have done a good."_

 _Fred looked proud, as he should. "Meet Lyon, after his mother's own twin. I thought it was fitting. He's only a day old."_

 _Babies born from an immortal grow quicker then normal. They don't look older, but their brains and cognitive thinking is better, faster. If the baby's lucky, he might have some of his father's gifts._

 _The twins are excellent planners, and work in chemistry as well. Them, along with Gabe, helped out the first alchemists. Maybe little Lyon will be an alchemist too._

 _Fred seemed absolutely enchanted with the small bundle. It was his first ever kid. "The other immortals will be happy to see him."_

 _George smirked. "Mason almost fainted. I thought we had finally killed her. She was crying at the end of it."_

 _I smiled at the thought. "Don't forget to ask Nonna and Wu about kids, they'll be the most help."_

 _Fred saluted, before looking down at his son. "I never knew it would be… like this." He frowned for a moment. "It's sad to know that I'll outlive him, but I know that I'll watch over his descendants."_

 _George frowned at the thought, before nudging his brother. "A large family with Fred watching over them. Is this a blessing or a curse?"_

 _Fred and George laughed, before disappearing into black smoke._

 _The baby, Lyon, giggled, looking at me with knowledge that I couldn't even understand._

 _I woke up._

When I opened my eyes, I knew something was wrong.

I wasn't on my bed, nor was I in my room. In fact, I didn't know where I was. The space was dark and gloomy.

"What..?" I whispered. I felt something on my shoulder, and my instincts kicked in, making me swat the thing away and spin, backing up.

"Ad...ren…"

"A..dren…"

"He..lp… us…"

I looked around, but there was no one. My mind stopped racing, and I sighed, realizing what this was. I was back here so soon?

"Fr...ee…"

I turned towards the sound, and finally saw it. Standing there was Esward, grey eyes black and mouth agape. "...us…"

I spun, and they showed up. Nonna, Anay, Cheche, Flipan, Wu. They all started showing up, eyes black and groaning with pain. Shackles held their feet as they shuffled towards me, like zombies.

It used to scare me.

Now, I just blinked and focused. The last time this had happened was twenty years ago, but it usually only happens every fifty years. At least I could finally check for sure…

"Mason!" I called out. "Mason!"

Everyone stopped shuffling forward. They looked around, before starting forward again. I'd never tried this before, so maybe, just maybe, she was still alive.

I was about to yell out another name when I felt something like a sucker punch to the gut. I gasped for a moment, before yelping as something pulled me to the ground stomach first. This had never happened before.

"Sav...e... us… . Fr...ee… US!"

Something locked around my legs, and I turned. Shackles. Nonna reaches me, blue eyes completely black, blonde hair grey, as well as skin. She raised her foot, landing it on my hand, breaking some kind of bone. I screamed in phantom pain, because the foot just went through my hand. What?

The shackles connected to something I couldn't see, before yanking me backwards, scraping my knees and hands on the way.

"What? Stop!" I yelled at nothing, but the chains yanked me back again. I bit my lip to stop from screaming. "Stop!"

"Fr..ee.. us..."

S...ave… us..."

"Jo..in… us…"


	8. Chapter 8: Scarier

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _The new is scarier_**

 _'Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.'_

 _-Seneca_

* * *

 **Adrian**

My eyes flew open, a scream tearing through my throat as I rushed to sit up. A pair of hands with strange strength pushed me back down, put it just made me panic more.

"Stop! Stop stop stop stop please! Please no please stop!"

My breathing with static for the second time in the last day, adrenaline pumping through me, when arms wrapping around my neck and a head was against mine.

"Adren! Calm down." The voice was a whisper, but it was loud in my ear. I blinked, my eyes shifting as sunlight hit my face.

There was light.

It was always dark in there.

I shuttered, slowing my breathing. I was out, thank Paris and all the others. My hand swiped my forehead, which was just as hot as it had been when I went to sleep.

Mari was the one hugging me, before letting go and holding my head in her hands. She smiled in relief, huffing out a sigh before pressing our heads together, something cool on my forehead. "Thank god. You were out of it for longer than usual and I didn't want to go to school and leave you here and you woke up in such a frenzy that I was worried… I mean, it's Friday you've been asleep for 4 days..."

She spoke fast. To fast. It made my ears buzz. I held my hands to them for a moment, touching Mari's by accident. "I'm fine."

Mari's face went from relief to suspicion immediately. "Are you? Usually you don't wake in such a huff."

I pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. "The immortals in the brooch are hurting. It's turning them crazy." I looked up. "What will happen when I break the brooch?"

She sighed, shifting slightly. "I wish I knew."

My mind drifted for a moment, and baby Lyon appeared in my thoughts agian. "Remember Fred's first child? Lyon?"

Mari smiled. "I remember all of the immortals' children. At least, the first and second borns. Lyon was so cute, and so well taught for the time."

"I had a dream about him." I started. "The twins were in it too, and they mentioned Mason. It's was right before I was sucked into the brooch. And I didn't see the three of them in there. Maybe they're…" I couldn't even finish the sentence, because I couldn't make myself believe. I didn't want false hope.

Mari frowned slightly, bringing her hand up to glide across my hair. "I don't think Mason is dead… I never felt it after we saw her. I think she's still alive, somewhere out there. And i don't ever remember something happening to the twins." Her hand twirled a lock of my hair. "Don't tell me you're giving up on finding out."

I leaned into her touch. "I don't want to give myself false hope. I've lived for to long to know that it would destroy me to do it."

She smiled sadly. "We're so close to having peace, Adrian." She pulled me to her, wrapping her arms around me again. "We can relax after the work is done."

If there was one thing I knew… is that we would have peace, I just didn't know how it was happening yet.

X

"Why is she so strong?!"

I grunted as Alya kicked me backwards with exceptional force. My back hit the back of an open freezer, and I had to scramble out before she could close it.

"It's the akuma." Mari said, sidestepping a pause moving her way. "It's got to be!"

"Ladybug!" Alya cackled, before pulling an innocent face. "I promise I'll be good… if you show me your face."

I felt cheated. What about me?

"Alya! Snap out of it!" I yelled, before having to move out of the way from another one of her attacks.

A mask appeared around her face, and she cackled in a deep voice. "Just show her your face, it's not like I don't already know it."

That just made me even more prone not to show it. There had to be a reason he would want us to show our face. Mari wrapped her yo-yo around her arm. "Or, you can just let her go!"

"I know you've noticed." He spoke again. "This is a descendant. Fred or George, if I'm not mistaken."

I stuttered to a stop, falling back only when she disappeared into another phone. "What does it matter to you, Gabriel? You cut ties long ago."

She appeared behind me, making to grab my wrist before I tumbled forward and away. "It doesn't, Adren. I was just surprised to see so many reincarnates in the same city, going to the same school. I've seen you at that school as well, haven't I? Seems like it's almost a beacon for our type."

Mari kicked at her phone, barely missing. "What are you playing at?"

This time, Alya shrugged. "I moved to Paris because I felt drawn here. I thought it was just because this was where I was born, but now, seeing all these descendants, and you two… hell, maybe even the other three immortals will show up. I have to thank the twins for cutting off two of my fingers."

Fingers? Fred and George managed to do lasting damage? And Mason's okay?

I went to ask, but the moth had disappeared from Lady WiFi's face. Suddenly, she laughed, before throwing a barge of pauses. I couldn't get close to her.

"Chat!" I heard from Mari as she moved over to me. "I need you to go upstairs and cut off the wifi router. I'll distract her." She whispered.

As I nodded, she threw up her lucky charm. I didn't see what it was before I ran off. It took me only a second to find a staircase, and I used my baton to go up the levels as fast as possible. I was surprised to see Chloe and Sabrina on the rooftop, hiding.

"Ugh, there you are!" Chloe stalked up, crossing her arms. "For superheroes, you sure are slow."

I gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Chloe."

Sabrina gasped. "Chat Noir knows your name!"

Chloe gave a smug grin. "Of course he does! Who doesn't know about me?"

I was about to answer with several different people, when Sabrina's phone fell out of her bag, and Alya was climbing out. "Oh, no-" I turned around, activating my power as I ran towards the router.

A foot away, and my body froze, starting at my back and ending at my hand. I was so close! As I lost feeling in my fingers, my claw poked the pole.

It disintegrated.

And instantly, I was let go, I fell to the ground in a grunt. Before I could get up, Lady WiFi was on me. "You ruined my plan!"

She socked me straight in the face. It felt like a horse's kick. I held my jaw, blocking a second punch before rolling backwards. As I got to my feet, Mari bursts from the stairway. In almost an instant, she had grabbed the akuma, flicking it into the air. I reached out, grabbing it and breaking it with ease.

The little butterfly stumbled out, which I quickly crushed, bringing the dust to Mari. She cleansed it easily, watching the butterfly fly out. She fixed everything, before excusing herself.

Alya was in the ground, almost in a sleep like state. Her eyes fluttered open, but she didn't move.

I rolled my jaw around. Mari fixing everything helped the pain, so it shouldn't bruise, thankfully. But it still hurt. She was definitely stronger then Stormy Weather, and maybe even Nino as the bubbler. That made no sense, though, since Nino was a descendant as well. It made me think, why was Alya a stronger descendant then Nino?

The only reasons I could think are the times they were born. If Alya's ancestor was born a thousand years ago, and Nino two thousand, then his powers would be a lot more watered down by normal people. Diluted.

"Ugh, What happened?" Alya grumbled from the ground. She held her head, blinking. Several times, her eyes flashed purple.

That's not good.

"Alya!" Marinette showed up from seemingly nowhere, knees kissing the floor as she slid forward. She embraced her, before helping her up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" she looked over. "Thanks… where did Ladybug go?"

"Err." I rubbed my neck. "She had to go… and so do I. It was a pleasure."

I walked to the side of the building and jumped off.

 **Please Review**

 **I feel like no one's reading this. :(**


	9. Chapter 9: Jokes

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _Inside jokes become a common_**

 _''Anytime you see a turtle up on the top of a fence post, you know he had some help.'_

 _-Alex Haley_

* * *

 **Marinette**

I had Alya spend the night, to make sure she was okay. I hadn't been able to check on Nino, but I wanted to check on Alya.

"Sooo…." she smirked as she came out of the bathroom, in pjs, "this is the place you share with Adrian. Which one of you has this much money?"

"That'll be me." Adrian barged into the room, even though the door was open. He had his phone in hand as he ended a call. I was guessing the kwami were in Adrian's room. "The photoshoot scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed for tomorrow since I was 'sick' for the entire week. My boss wants you there as well. He even sent something for you to wear."

"See!" Alya almost screamed. "Even his boss ships it!!"

A bright blush appeared on my face as Adrian just looked confused. "Ship what? Who has a ship?"

Alya blinked, before busting out in a fit of giggles. "Such nativity…" she wipes a tear from her eyes. "You act like you're a thousand years old, but you're as gullible as a 2 year old."

"As I told Nino." He grumbled. "I'm almost 3 thousand. Not 1."

She gave him a look with a strange smile, before laughing some more. "Sure, grandpa. And my ancestor's a god."

"Immortal." I said with a joking grin.

"Right." Alya smiled. "I'm all powerful." She paused. "Funny you say immortal."

Adrian plopped onto my bed next to me, taking on the hands behind head posture. I leaned against the headboard, subtly placing my hand on the back of his head to scratch it. I don't think Alya could see. Adrian almost purred. "Why's it funny?"

Alya took a chair and moved it to the front of the bed. "See, my family's cursed."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, cursed?" Did Gabriel do something?

"For as long as my family documents go, every single one of my ancestors died on their 100'th birthday." She wiggles her fingers, giving the story a spooky vibe as she flicked the lights off. A second later, she turned on the phone's flashlight. "Except for one person…"

Did she know? "Who?" Adrian asked, as intrigued as me.

"He's the farthest ancestor that we can trace back, and surprisingly, the one with the most tales. They say he was an alchemist, trying to find out the way of immortality."

I shared a look with Adrian in the dark. "What was his name?"

Alya shrugged. "Don't remember. Starts with an F, I think."

"Felix?"

"Ferb?"

"Fabian?"

"Fred?"

"Ah!" She snapped her fingers. "Fred, it was Fred. I think the story is where the name got its popularity from. Anyway." She took a breath, getting back into the vibe. "It was said he achieved it, but at a steep price. His descendants would all die at the age of 100. For us now, it's not to bad, but back when people were living with the Black Plague, it was torture. A rumor is passed down our family. 'The eldest is watching from the shadows, always. He's the protector we will never see.'"

"That paints Fred in a very… weird light." I whispered lowly, and Adrian nodded slightly. Louder, I said. "That's strangely cool. You have a guardian."

Alya looked slightly proud, before tossing her phone to Adrian, settling on the foot of the bed. "Your turn! Scary story or real story, doesn't really matter."

Adrian picked up the phone, scratching his head. "Thousands of years ago… there was a… goddess named Paris. She was a being of order and tranquillity. She, along with lesser gods, helped gift humans with superhuman powers."

"Like Ladybug And Chat Noir?" I asked, as if confused. Adrian gave me a look, which I gave back even more fake cluelessness. He nodded with a chuckle.

"Everything was in peace, when another being showed up, one of Chaos and disharmony. Sirap, the complete opposite of Paris.

"They were attracted to each other, because you can't have order without chaos, or chaos without order. The love that Paris had made her turn a blind eye towards Sirap's wrong doings. While she wasn't looking, he plunged the world into chaos.

"To this day, Paris is still trying to bring back order to this world, but Sirap is strong. He's the boogie monster that hides in closets and underneath beds. The part of you that says, 'go on, steal that, hurt that, no one will stop you…'. He's probably in this room right now."

"Meow."

Alya screamed, jumping onto us, muffling the light. In the dark, I could see Mari the cat climb on top of the desk, where a pillow was kept. Her blue eyes almost glowed.

Alya got up, and in the new light, turned to look at the cat. She blushed. "Oh…"

It was the most I laughed in awhile.

 _I just realized that I can't do a line cut because my laptop is broken so sorryyyyyyy..._

The outfit I had to wear was cute. A simple red blouse with black leggings and brown boots, going with a long black cardigan. Adrian had a grey parka, black jeans and boots, which fit him well.

Alya squealed at the both of us. "Is it okay for me to come along and watch?"

Adrian nodded. "Mr Gracestone would be fantastic with it. He's been meaning to get more of the younger generation in."

"We're gonna be models gurl!" Alya jumped slightly, her happiness contagious. I started bouncing with her.

"I know right!"

Adrian chuckled at the both of us. "Get ready for the life of healthy eating."

We deflated in sync. "Never mind."

I got my purse, discreetly hiding Tikki and Plagg in it. I fed Mari, before we left. Luckily, we grabbed a cab easily and the fee to the park wasn't even five dollars. Adrian gave him a ten cause he's generous and we got out.

The place was already set up, an older model has the stage in a winter dress. A man I assumed to be Mr, Gracestone pranced up. "Adrian! I hope you are feeling better… the company had sent you a gift basket. Oh! Are these your friends?"

He examined us with a sparkling eye. "This is Alya, my friend from school, and Marinette, a childhood friend. She just moved here."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gracestone." I said, bowing slightly.

He gave a chuckle, which seems to twinkle. "Pleasure is all mine, Marinette. I see you are wearing the outfit I picked out." He smiled, turning to Alya. "You are a perfect youth outlet for our clothes. Would you model one for us?"

Alya giggled. "I would love to." She tried her best not to squeal. An assistant carried her away, while another took Adrian and I to another set. Immediately, two hair stylist were on us, one combing Adrian's hair while the other braided my bangs, finishing the braid at the back of my hair and clipping it. With a few brush strokes, she was done.

Mr Gracestone stepped up, lanky legs surprisingly graceful. "I think some co photos while be good, since we have Ms Alya doing some as well. And we don't want to overexert Adrian." He paused, waiting for people to agree with him. They all did, quiet sincerely too. "These designs are more for the teenage demographic, which explains the hair style. Give us big smiles!"

The whole thing was pretty fun. At a point, we did a group picture with Alya, as well. We only had to change once.

After I changed, I blinked at myself. Oh gosh.

I stepped out of the dressing room, not at all surprised to see what Adrian was wearing. Black pants and a black hoodie with a large green paw print on the back. Black cat ears on the hood. I had black leggings, with a red and black hoodie, which wasn't as bad.

He looked at me. "Oh Paris."

I giggled, messing with his hoodie ears. "Look at my kitty."

"All you need is the mask, and you're all set, bugaboo." Adrian laughed. There was no hair stylists, just someone that made the hoodies fit perfectly on our head.

The pictures weren't to bad, just somewhat silly pictures to show off the look. They gave Adrian another outfit for tomorrow, and after I asked, me one as well. Adrian had packed extra clothes, thankfully, so we all changed back, and Alya treated us to coffee. Adrian was all over that idea.

Overall, it was a nice day.


	10. Chapter 10: Sidestepping

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _Sidestepping the truth is a given_**

 _"Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies."_

 _-Dorothy Allison, Bastard out of Caroline_

* * *

 **Adrian**

"Adrian! Dude!"

Alya weaved through the students in the hallways. I stopped, unconsciously ducking around two girls who held up paper and pens for him to sign stuff with. "Hey Alya." I paused. "Something wrong?"

Alya giggled. "Nope! It's great! Look!" And she held up a text book, beaming.

I was confused. "What's so special?"

"I got this from Ladybug!!" She clutched it close. My heart skipped a beat. "She dropped it a few minutes ago. Look at this! It's the same as ours!" She squealed. "Ladybug goes to our school!"

This was bad. "Wow, that's almost impossibly unlikely. There has to be another reason." I tried to act intrigued and not slightly terrified. I mean, this wouldn't be the first time one of my friends found out my secret. It happened a few hundred years ago. Funny story, that was, actually.

But with Gabe nearby, already knowing she might be close to us, I didn't want her to be in harms way. True, telling her would be a heads up, but she's the kind to dive into trouble.

"It's the most likely reason." Alya said. "I already put this on the LC blog. People are freaking out!"

I was really starting to panic now. "The only ones who truly know is Ladybug and Chat Noir. You got to ask them!"

Alya deflated. "I haven't been able to get an interview with either of them yet…"

I regret what I said next. "I can help!"

She perked up. "You can?"

"You can?"

Marinette walked up, watching me with suspicion. Her face had an easy dig yourself out of this mess look to it.

"Uh, Yeah." Just diggin the hole deeper. "I know Chat Noir, I can get you an interview!"

Marinette face palmed behind Alya's view sight. Alya, though, almost squealed. "Really, you can? With both?"

"Eh…" I did a so ' so gesture. "Probably only one, sorry. I don't know about Ladybug, but Chat Noir will be happy to say something."

I had finally made a plan in my mind. Mari frowned slightly. "Chat Noir is definitely the diva of the duo."

I twitched, stopping myself from retorting. Mari smirked slightly. "You can asked him about that Peice of text they just added into the Egyptian museum." She added.

Just a few days ago, some tome raiders were caught, there stolen stuff taken into government custody. In there, they found a picture of two beings that looked almost identical to Mari and I. The picture had us in Egyptian cloth with linin covering our eyes, but it was close enough to Ladybug and Chat Noir that the French museum actually bought it.

Alya was bouncing by this point. "Isn't it awesome? Im confused on why Ladybug might have this book, because the picture makes historians think that they're way older then humanly possible. I'm doing a blog on it later today, actually. Think you can get him to show up that quickly?"

I had no modeling today. Mari did have an outfit to do, but she's gone in without me before. "Consider it done."

Alya slipped away, hugging the book close to her. Marinette went to my side. "You told her you knew Chat?"

I shrugged, still slightly panicked. "What could I do? We have to get your textbook back! After you've finished modeling, you can transform and get the textbook back while she's busy interviewing me. why did you say something about the tablet?"

"Everyone will want to know soon enough." She said after a moment.

"I might have to tell them about our age…" I said softly. I didn't know how I felt about that. I was hopeing that after Gabe was gone, we could tell everyone.

Mari nodded, but still frowned. "I hope she doesn't tell anyone about the interview. Word travels fast, and I don't want Gabe creating another akuma because he knows you'll be out."

"I'll be fine Mari." I draped an arm around her. "I can take an akuma."

"But you can't get rid of it by yourself." Mari retorted, before sighing. "Just be careful, kitty."

I grinned. "When am I not?"

"All the time."

OmOmO

I thought when I would go to the museum, not to many people would be there, and I could get the interview done and leave.

Apparently, Alya got a tweet out that she would be interviewing me about the sign in the museum. The curator was waiting to greet me, almost as giddy as Alya was, and there was security outside the doors, stopping most people but staff and historians.

I saw it all from a rooftop a few buildings away. A crowd of people stood outside, probably waiting for me. The thought made me smile, a happiness I don't feel often filling me.

It was hard for me to really be happy most of the times. It started thousands of years back, when I first gained my 'Seeing' power. For some reason, every fifty or so years, I go to sleep for a few days at a time. I don't know how, or why, but when I'm asleep, I can see inside Gabe's amulet, where he's trapped all the other immortals' souls. I can see the souls trapped inside, sometimes talk to them.

Over the years, they've slowly turned insane.

They've been broken.

But just like how Mari can tell that an Immortal has died, I can see where their souls go afterwards. But seeing how bad they've all become… well, it makes it hard to have a positive attitude.

Especially because I know Gabe wants us to join them.

THe only time I'm really happy now is when I have Mari by my side.

But seeing the crowd below me, cheering and excited to see me, knowing that I helped and save these people on different occasions, makes me so inexplicably happy that I'm now grinning like a doofus.

I run across the rooftops, making a giant leap until I'm on top of the museum. People look up and start pointing, chatter turning to cheer.

It's these moments that make me not give up.

I jump off the building, landing on a crouch. A security man moves in front of me, stopping reporters from jumping me. I smirk and wave at them, tuning out questions they throw at me.

"Will Ladybug be joining you today!?"

I don't know why I didn't tune that question out, but I turned to the woman who said it, giving her a wider smile before moving towards the curator.

"Chat Noir." He said pleasantly, shaking my head. "Thank you so much for coming and depicting tablet for us. I must ask, how do you understand the language? Even the historians are stumped."

I wasn't sure if I wanted them to know that we were basically immortal yet. I didn't know if I wanted them to know we lived in Egypt when the tablet was made. So I just smiled and said. "You'll see after I've translated it."

"Chat Noir! How is it possible that there is a thousands of years old picture of you?"

I gave the reporter a slick face, before following the curator in.

As we walk to where it was, I thought about it for a moment. The immortals and I were waaaay older then 3 thousand. We don't know how old we are, since a calendar wasn't around for half of our lives. When we finally got a decent calendar, we got up to five thousand years old… but then the calendar switch. Two of those years turned into only one season and it was to hard to calculate, so we just started over at 16. It didn't matter much to us, sense we were running for our lives.

Alya was looking at the tablet when I got there. She turned, jumping up to greet me. Her phone was hooked to her body so that she had both hands empty. From what I could tell, she was already live-streaming, probably sharing her own thoughts while waiting for me.

"Chat Noir! Thank you so much for doing this!" She giggled, seriously giddy. I knew that she liked Ladybug more then me, but I was still happy with the joy she got from seeing me, or, Chat.

"No problem, Alya." I said. I was wondering if I should throw a cat pun in there, somewhere. I decided against it. "Ladybug and I were going to help you guys out with this tablet anyway."

The curator was recording this as well, looking up to the cameras in the room, as if magically making them work. Alya spoke. "Both of you? You speak outside of costume?"

I still didn't know if I wanted to tell them. Tell them that we were older then the calendar itself. I didn't know how Mari felt about it.

She would support me either way, I thought.

Smiling, I said, "we've known each other for many years, Alya."

I could hear Alya whisper, 'LadyNoir' under her breath, but I didn't comment. "Chat, is it true that this is you and Ladybug depicted in this tablet?"

I walked over to it, reading it silently to myself. It was a tombstone, made for…

My breath caught in my throat, and suddenly, my eyes turned watery.

It was a tombstone for Jani. The immortal with a bear Kwami.

"Yes." My voice cracked slightly. "It's us in the picture."

Alya must of noticed how my posture changed. "Chat… are you okay?"

I took a breath, schooling my features. "I'm fine. Let's continue with the questions." I tried for a smirk.

Alya didn't speak, but the curator did. "From the herioglyphs we were able to translate, we were able to make up a sentence, 'the bear shall have a beautiful afterlife.' What is the bear?"

I bit my lip, stopping myself from sniffling. I scratched the back of my neck, laughing anxiously. "Ah, I wish Ladybug was here to help me explain this…" I paused. "This tablet is a tombstone."

The room seemed to turn darker. The atmosphere changed. The curator stuttered. "Wh-"

"As to not disrespect who it was made for, I will not tell you their name on camera. You can ask me later." I told him. I turned to Alya. "Sorry for dropping that out of nowhere. I'm surprised that this was even found. I haven't seen it in a long time…"

"Were you there when this picture was made?" The curator asked.

I shook my head. "No, Ladybug and I were there before it was made, and we came back afterwards, but not during the process."

Alya shook her head slightly, gettin out of her state. "Chat… Just how old are you?"

I smirked. "I lost count thousands of years ago."

Silence, before Alya's smile widened impressively wide. "Have you ever met a Fred before?"

I planted a hand on my hip, still smirking slightly. "Oh yeah, I know a Fred. A close friend of mine, actually. I wonder where he is now…"

Alya's eyes sparkled at the thought that her family legend was more than just a legend. She opened her mouth to speak more-

And suddenly, a mummy dressed up as a god stomped into the room. It's eyes locked on the tablet, and they narrowed. "I will bring my beloved back to life!"

And he charged.


	11. Chapter 11: The Past

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _Sticking with friends will save you_**

 _"Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness"_

 _-Euripides_

* * *

 **Marinette**

I had just made it to the museum when the akuma showed up.

I stood on the top of the museum, by the sunroof. I was listening to the livestream, and I wanted to help Adrian, but I needed to get my textbook back. Curse my clumsiness.

When I saw the akuma, though, I made a rash, second quick decision. I broke the sunroof, falling down straight on top of the mummy.

I was hopeing that it looked super heroic. Chat's 'Nice Ladybug!' Helped.

The mummy moved away, growling when he saw me. "Ugh! Bug! How are you still alive?" He shifted his foot, anger showing on his masked face as his posture went into an attack position.

I blinked, confused. "Uh, have we met before?" I don't remember ever meeting a mummy before.

"Back then, you went by the name Natra, correct?" The mummy asked, smirking as he saw my face change. How did he know that? There are only a few hundred people who knew that name, and most of them are dead. "I failed to defeat you there, but I will defeat you now!"

He ran forward, but was stopped by a baton thrown in his face. "Dude!" Chat yelled, running up besides me. "Can't you tell that we don't know who you are? Geez, take a hint!"

The mummy growled again, and I risked a look behind me. The security and curator had ran, and Alya had hidden behind a pedalstal. Any memory of what Chat told her was gone, and now she was smiling widely at us.

"We need to get him out of the museum before he breaks or hurts anyone." I whispered to Chat, swinging my yo-yo. The mummy was eyeing the tablet with interest, which made my stomach turn.

"There are people outside this building though." He hissed back, extending his baton and barring his teeth at the mummy.

"They've gon-"

"Stop your whispering!" The mummy bellowed suddenly. "You say you don't remember me, but you'll soon wish you did! I am The Pharaoh, and my beloved Nefertiti sacrificed her life to save you. Now, I've finally figured out the way to bring her back to me, sins be damned!"

My mind was running through the name. Nefertiti… Nefertiti…

My mind clicked. "Nefertiti was a name Jani adopted." I hissed. Chat's eyes widen, his jaw clicking.

"You can't bring the dead back to life, Pharaoh!" He yelled at him. "Let the dead Rest In Peace!"

I swallowed dryly, forcing myself not to think about that sentence, not to think about how that wasn't true for Jani.

"You can't stop me!" The Pharaoh yelled, clasping his hands together. "Skehmet, lend my you're strength!"

His mask changed, turning into a lion, and he clapped his hands. A force wave ran forward, smashing us into the back wall. I fell, getting to my knees as Chat landed in a cat's pose. I frowned, twirling my yo-yo. I flung it towards the mummy, but he clapped again, making it go off tilter.

Alya backed up a bit, tripping and falling with a yelp. The Pharaoh looked at her, tilted his masked head. A purple mask shimmered into existence on his face,leaving again before he spoke. "You, Pure Lady, you will help me."

I took the distraction to wrapped the yo-yo around his arm, yanking him away to the floor. "Back off bub." I almost snarled.

"You should be helping me, Natra. You were her friend! She lost her life for you! You should be helping me bring her back!" The Pharaoh jumped up, backing up a little.

I kept my face blank, but it still hit me. Jani was hiding in Egypt at the same time we were, just in different places. She visited us to catch up several times. The last time though, Gabriel had caught up to us. He cornered and almost killed me, but Jani stopped him.

And that tombstone was made for her.

 **Ten years ago…**

She was running, running too fast. Sweat ran down her face in streams as she huffed, moving shakily forward. Her hand held her side as she limped. Above her, sitting on her head, a small animal sat, looking around.

She finally fell, curling up in herself to keep from hurting her side even move. Blood soaked the ground as she struggled to get up, struggled to escape.

 _Arden will kill me if I die._ She thought lightly to herself, stopping a chuckle as she finally got up. _So I better not die._

But she knew it was a lost cause.

The small animal on her head growled lightly as she stopped in a small clearing between houses. It was empty, the only way in were from alleyways.

The girl sighed. "I know you're here Gabey! Show yourself!" She yelled into the darkness. A low chuckle started, but she couldn't pinpoint it. "You always had a thing for theatrics."

Finally, the immortal showed himself. He looked older than most of the immortals, except for Wu. His hair had turn platinum, his violet eyes darker. He looked to be rounding 30s. His little moth sat on his shoulder. Unlike last time, it looked sad and terrified at the same time.

"Ah, the hunter has become the hunted. Funny how things change, isn't it?" He said, gliding out from an alley.

"If you're going to kill me, then kill me."The girl breathed. "But I want to know something first. Than you can collect my soul or whatever."

She could practically feel the other immortals in the man's brooch, screaming for her to run. Crying in pain and torture. She swallowed thickly, she was about to join them.

"What's the question then?" He asked. "You've caused me so much trouble, but you've entertained me as well. I think you deserve a last question."

The girl's small animal was growling lowly at the man's moth. The girl herself was having problems standing. "What happens to the Kwami when you take our souls? Where do they go? Why do you take their souls?"

"That's three questions, but, oh well. I thought the saying was 'Curiosity killed the cat, not wolf' but if you really want to know…" He pursed his lips. "They merge back with their respected immortal. That was one of the things I couldn't stop from happening. And if they merged back, then they'd be invincible again and they'd come back to life and, well, it makes it annoying for me."

The woman smiled. "And satisfaction brought it back." Keeping her hand pressed to her side, she looked up, her posture straightening. "Well then, Gabey. This is your best chance to get me. The wolf doesn't always get it's prey."

Gabe chuckled darkly. His sword materialized, and with deadly accuracy, he threw it. "And finally, the thorn in my back is gone- what?!"

In mid air, something hit the sword, a foot away from the bleeding girl. It clattered to the floor, as another laugh echoed through the alley. Suddenly, before the girl could move, someone grabbed her from behind, pulling her into the shadows. Another sword slammed into the stone next to her, but a hand on her mouth stopped her from talking. Instead, she slumped down, pressing her hands to her side to stop the bleeding. The hand disappeared.

"TchTchTch." She heard, and looked up. It wasn't Gabe though, as he was in the middle of the clearing, looking every which way. Another, more soft pitched laugh echoed through the clearing, and, for some reason, the girl's heart spiked. She recognized that laugh.

"Gabe Gabe Gabe. TchTchTch." The voice said again. She knew the voice, but from where? She kept her mouth shut, since she was hidden, and just worked on keeping her wound closed. Her small animal was trying to help too, keepings its small paws pressed against smaller bleeding wounds.

"I expect better from you." A voice said, not the same from the first. Two people, talking one after another. "You used to be so much fun." "Just had to kill though." "You're as bad as Darth Vader." "Voldemort, maybe-" "Not Voldemort, brother dearest. You almost died." "Well, you almost lost an ear-"

She knew those voices. Tears of pain and relief started falling, and she let them. Alive, she was alive, they were alive...

Gabe understood to. He scowled, but regained posture. "So, you've finally showed up. I've been looking for you two-"

"Oh shut it" "You did a bad job, lookin." "We stay in the same place nearly thirty years." "Just moved families, yeah." "Didn't think anything of it, since they could stay young as well-" "We learned a lot from them, didn't we?"

The tears wouldn't stop. She missed them, missed them so much.

In the dark corners of the clearings, a face appeared. It wasn't human, though, this face was long and pitch black, blending into the shadows. All that could be seen was it's sharp pearly teeth, the size of small heads, and it's big purple eyes, globe size. As the hidden voice spoke, it moved as if it spoke. Another one showed up on the other side, speaking for the other voice.

"Tricksters, through and through." Gabe muttered, standing in an attack position. "Show yourself, your death will be short."

The faces, which were arguing, stopped to look at Gabe, before they both started laughing. Suddenly, something flew from a shadow, and Gabe raised his sword to reflect it. "Funny" "That was." "We were scared." "Of you at a point." "But after the last few years." "We've seen a man with no nose." "Nothing." "And we repeat nothing." "Is scarier than." "No-nose man." With each change of voice, another weapon was thrown. Gabe was starting to sweat as he deflect the weapons, which came from two ways. Twice, he had been cut already.

"I mean, one time-" "-He saw Rabi and Trix-" "Scary time, that was." "Tried to take them, he did." "Tried to kill em, he did!" "Ah, that's when we really got involved." "With no-nose man." "I mean, you just can't mess." "With a guy's kwami." "Can you believe that, George?" "No, no I can't, Fred."

She was openingly sobbing now. She didn't even like to cry, but she didn't try to stop herself. They were back, they were making him retreat, they were alive.

Not another grave to dig.

Not another body to find.

"But if there's." "One thing no one" "We repeat no one can do." "Is mess with our girl." "Don't look at us funny Gabey." "We haven't seen each other in awhile." "A long while, in fact-" "Thousands of bloody years, more like it." "So, as to reintroduce ourselves…"

Gabe was at the edge of the alleyway, backing up as he eyed the thrown weapons, and the shadow faces. The shadow faces morphed, and two men walked out. The woman could see messy red dulled hair -could remember when they dyed it-, could see their bright blue eyes.

"Im Gred." One said with a silky smile.

"I'm Forge." The other one beamed.

And with a final weapon, Gabe was barely able to dodge. With a sick crutch, two gloved fingers slipped off his hand.

Gabe got up and ran, not even looking back, while he screamed in pain. At the same time, the girl, despite her injuries, got up, before running at the boys, they barely had time to turn around before she fell straight into Forge (she knew this was George), hugging him tight.

"Woah." "Calm down there Mase." "How's it been?"

"Shut up and let me hug you." The girl grumbled. The boy she was hugging chuckled, she could tell by his moving chest.

"That might have to wait." "We got to get you back." "To a safe house." "And have a look at that wound." "Yikes."

The girl smiled, but it was a lost smile, as the blood lost finally took hold, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she started to fall.

Only to be caught in the end.

 **Hahaha... I totally didn't forget to upload this... this hasn't been collecting dust in my document manager for an entire month... no... that's not me...**

 **A few things to discuss. This will have some stuff that I will add to the book, so if you don't want any spoilers whatsoever, don't read.**

 **Don't Read If Want No Spoils**

 **1 Alya will learn their secret... probably somewhere in the late ten's chapters.**

 **2The three still alive side immortals will show up soon.**

 **If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.**

 **Oh, and Lady-Rose-Noir2018... I didn't give much detail on purpose. I wanted to be like that when I wrote it. Gives you something to think about. But still, thank you for the critique!**

 **And thank you everyone who's reading and a double thank you to everyone who's reviewing! It's really hard for a writer to write their heart out for people and then not get any feedback!**


	12. Chapter 12: Surprises

**_When You Live Forever..._**

 ** _Surprises are almost always bad_**

 _"If you know the enemy and you know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."_

 _-Sun Tzu_

* * *

 **Marinette**

"I told you so."

Chat huffed from his perch on top of a lamp post. He was panting slightly, worn out from the fight. I leaned on the same lamppost, just on ground level as I glanced up at him. "Told me what?"

"That Gabe would send out an akuma." I rubbed my yo-yo, tracing the details with my gloved thumb. "We should make it a habit to only go out like this together."

"Don't let Alya hear you say that." Chat chuckled as Alya skitted over. A medical team wanted to check her over, but she was perfectly fine, besides the slight shock.

She raised her phone. "Can we finish that interview?"

Chat went to answer, when our jewelry beeped simultaneity. "Sorry, but we have to go." Chat said apologetically.

"One last question!" Alya squeaked, putting her phone away. "Something just for me to hear… So now that I -and at least half of Paris- know that you guys are somehow immortal or something, which lemme just say is sweet- ugh, getting off track." She took a breath. "When I said something about Fred earlier… he's my family's ancestor, and I just want to learn more about him…"

Chat hopped down from his post while I spoke. "Fred, huh? I can see it, you look strikingly alike, skin tone being the only huge difference. Well, I don't know what you want to know about him. Fred and his twin are big tricksters-"

"Is he still alive?" Alya said in a rush. "Sorry, it's just Chat hinted at him still being around and…" she trailed off.

Chat placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at his ring while doing so. "It's okay, you're just curious. I haven't seen him in a long time, so I don't know how he's fairing." He paused. "See, there's someone after us, as in, a group we're in called the Immortals. We all went into hiding, so we barely ever see anyone."

I nodded sadly. "But we're tired of hiding. Time we finished this." I smiled. "Maybe Fred will pay us a visit while we do it, as well."

Alya smiles, giving us a wave as Chat grabbed my waist and used his baton to pull us to a rooftop, where we start running.

"We have to tell her." Chat said after a moment of silence.

"I know." I replied, jumping over a heater. We usually tell interested descendants of Immortals about us, just because they deserve to know. Most descendants have stories of their immortal ancestors, passed down through families. It also helped prepare them in case Gabriel came across them.

He might kill them just for the heck of it.

I grit my teeth. Chloe, Nino, and Alya. Three descendants, just in 1 class. And we're in Paris, the area we were born in, named after the goddess who gave us our powers. How many other descendants were in danger in this city?

X

"If there was one time-" A sneeze. "I've ever wished more to be completely-" another one. "-immortal again, it would be now."

My eyes stayed locked on Adrian, who was sneezing again. A few hundred years ago, we found out he was allergic to feathers, and every time he sneezes, I feel bad. He never had a problem with that kind of stuff before we were weakened.

It had been a month since the town found out that we were older then old. Gabe had only akumatised one person close to us, Alix, in that time. He had been quiet, which was always a bad thing, but he had to be in the city somewhere. It's not like we havent looked, we've searched the whole city. It's strange, he should be pretty wealthy, he would have a big house and maids, that was the kind of person he was. People must know who he is.

At the moment, there was an akumatized pigeon man who was having a jolly time laughing at the sight of Chat sneezing. We had set up a trap, dressing Adrian up in a guard outfit and waiting for the man to call his pigeons on him. After a trip in a cloud of pigeons, they dropped him off in an abandoned building. I had followed behind, freeing the captured guards while Chat distracted the pigeon man.

Weird way of distracting.

He was on the ground, sneezing a fit. I knew at the beginning he wasn't pretending, but once the sneezing became louder and more drawn out, I knew he was acting. The pigeon guy, for some reason, found it hilarious. "You allergic to my pigeons. My sympathies." He said through tears. "I was told that if I found you, I must injure you. It will keep my pigeons safe."

He snapped his fingers, and a flock of birds dived towards him. I started moving forward to help, when Adrian stopped acting, jumping up and easily moving out of the way. I crouched back down, moving slowly across the catwalk. Looking at the lucky charm I had again, a coin, I spotted the vending machine below me.

Adrian, on the other hand, was still dodging and sneezing his way past the pigeons. As I lowered myself down, spiderman style on my yoyo, clinking the coin in and pressing the buttons, the man whipped around, hooting like crazy at the sight of me.

I yelped, grabbing the popcorn bag and ravelling back up the yoyo to the catwalk. His pigeons started flying after me, but Chat took the pigeon man's attention off of me again, tackling him to the ground. I ran across the catwalk, ripping the bag open and dumping the contents. After a moment, the birds stopped, settling down to start eating.

I dropped from the catwalk, landing in a crouch. Chat wasn't really having any problems just the man, besides his sneezes. If he wasn't allergic, he would have already subdued him.

After a moment, the man slumped over, Chat flipping away, one hand in a fist. Not surprised, I opened up my yoyo, watch the blonde spill the dust in his hands into my yoyo.

"I feel like they're getting easier and easier." He said with a grin.

"Maybe we're just getting better." I smiled back, nudging his arm. As we started going towards the door, my yoyo started beeping.

I frowned, glancing at it. Someone was calling, and since Chat wasn't, it must be someone who has my actual number.

Chat stopped wistiling, the arms that were above his head dropping to his side. I made a quiet motion, before answering it and holding it infront of us. "Hello?"

"There you are!" Alya's voice came out. "I went to your apartment but neither you or Adrian was there."

"He's with me." I said, and Chat said a small 'hey' to show he was listening. Since nothing was wrong, we started moving again "Is something wrong?"

"Gurl, you always think something's wrong." Alya's voice held a grin. "Mr. Gracestone said we got new clothes, and since he couldn't reach you, asked me to. I'm going in for an interview. You guys won't be the only models at the school!"

"Awesome!" Chat said as we moved to an alternate, empty road. As we walked Chat's transformation wore off. "I'll call and tell him we're coming."

"See you in twenty." Alya chirped, and the call ended. My transformation wore off, and I went into my purse, opening a bag and taking out a cookie.

"Sorry Plagg, I forgot to bring cheese." I frowned, looking into my bag some more. "I have this… cheese cookie, if you want it?"

Plagg groaned dramatically. "No one cares about little ole me!" He cried. "You would make me starve, or, worse, eat some cheap cheese knockoff!" He took a grumpy bite of the cookie, his eyes widening slightly before he took another bite.

"Grumpy cat." Adrian murmured, smiling as he scooped up the kwami from the air, putting him in a pocket. Tikki buzzed, flying over and cuddingly up into the same pocket. "They usually stay in your purse."

"It's getting cold." I shrugged, hailing a taxi. "They might not feel it as much as other things, but I think everyone can feel this." I shivered slightly.

"Need to start wearing actual pants, Netta." Adrian took off his overcoat, leaving the jacket the kwamis were in on and giving the overcoat to me. I gave him a smile, putting it on. Instantly, the warmth and the musk of Adrian made me shiver again as my body adjusted to the heat. I barely even noticed the fact that he had called me by my old name.

"Thanks." I breathed. "Will you be okay? That's a thin jacket." I looked the white jacket over again, a thin fabric with almost no insulation.

He laughed. "I'll be fine."

I tipped the taxi when we got there, and when the big sliding doors opened I was immediately blanketed in warmth. I made it to hot to wear the coat, but I still wanted to.

After an internal debate, I gave the jacket back, Adrian dropping it off in his room as we went to find Mr. Gracestone.

He was talking to two older models and Alya, explaining something something to them. His head snapped towards us when we walked in, and he excused himself. "Adrian, Marinette! Lovely to see you, I was worried when neither of you picked up the phone."

"We're sorry about that, something just came up." Adrian explained. "We weren't at home when we got the call, so we don't have the clothes you wanted us to model."

"No worries." Mr. Gracestone beamed. "We just got a new shipment of clothes from a new designer. They're pretty famous, so we need everyone here to do a shoot. This will help our business boom!"

I smiled at the optimism in his voice. "I hope so." I offended with a grin. "Does the designer make both youth and adult clothes?"

Mr. Gracestone looked behind us, and his eyes gleamed. "Ask our designer himself."

I turned around, and my heart almost stopped.

Because, with our lucky, of course Gabriel was right behind us.

"Hello kids."

 **Whovianeverlark17- I haven't watched much of season two *shrugs*I had this idea before season two came out, so im going to keep it pretty season one based just because things will change in s2 and i don't want to have to change with it. Like, I always knew miraculouses were indestructible, but i didn't really think it fair that Cataclysm could destroy them. Besides that… if you can piece together the clues, youll see the answer you were looking for in your question.**

 **And thanks to the guest who left the happy comment about the HP references. I wasn't going to put them in the story, but it happened and there's no turning back.**

 **I had fun writing this. Hope you enjoyed.**


	13. Chapter 13: Grey

**Hello, bet you didn't expect me here, didya? So, 1 year anniversary for this book is hopefully the day I upload this. I just want to say, sorry. I told myself that I would update this once or twice a month at least, and i've barely done that. At first, it was because of my other story, I gave that one top priority, but then I had low points that I couldn't get myself out of… I didn't want to write anymore, and that's not fair to you guys, so I apologize.**

 **ANYWHO** **ONTO WHY IM REALLY WRITING UP HERE.** **Since halloween just passed, this chapter will have a themed noncanon akuma! I was thinking about what would happen if not just an innocent person was akumatised, but someone bad… what if a murderer got akumatized?**

 **So, imma do some warnings. Story still T, all the warnings are still T, I just want to put it in here because some people don't like some things. So, WARNING FOR SOME MILD (closer to LOW) GORE, SWEARS MAYBE, AND SOME FLUFFINEST BECAUSE IT's AN ANNIVERSARY CHAPTER** **And this one will be extra long, I hope….**

 **Ps. PLEASE read note at bottom if you have anything to say about season 2 itself...**.

 _ **When you live forever**_

 _ **Halloween takes on a whole new meaning…**_

 _"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world there was only one of him."_

 _David Wong, "John Dies at the End"_.

 **Adrian**.

I blinked. Twice. My hands went to rub my eyes but I stopped them. Letting out a sound that was more of a growl then a whimper, I forced myself to smile. "Mr. Designer man, _pleasure_."

What annoyed me the most was our similarities. I don't quite remember what he looked like before he became immortal, but people now could easily take us as related. He had my sunny blonde hair, albeit slightly paler, as if sick, and his violet eyes had a greenish blue tinge to them, making them change to those colors in certain light. He soo liked to brag about that when we were younger, a hundred years or so.

Now, though, he didn't look to be a teen, somewhere in his early thirties instead. He was a foot taller as well, something he was demonstrating right now by leering over us.

But he didn't like the name 'Mr. Designer man', so I took that as a win.

He frowned, standing straighter as if just remembering where they were and who was with them. Alya was tilting her head at Marinette who had liquid defiance in her eyes, and Mr. Gracestone was frowning slightly at the man. In his point of view, it was just a man with no affiliation with two teenagers first smiling weirdly at them then sneering. It made me smile to think that Mr. Gracestone was already choosing our sides and was wary, but I also didn't want him in harm's way.

Gabriel wrinkled his nose. "I'm sure it is. I was going to watch you model some of the outfits. I've very particular about who I have model my clothes."

Mr. Gracestone stepped in then. "Why don't you all get changed. Marinette, darling, we haven't cleaned out a room for Alya yet, so you'll need to share."

"No problem Mr. Gracestone." Marinette said, tapping Alya's wrist and turning around, grabbing my shirt sleeve on the way, pulling me out as well. I glanced at him once more, and he was rubbing the brooch on his neck, smiling slightly.

As soon as I had check my clothes over and had put them on. I moved to the girl's room, knocking before coming in.

They were both changed, Alya wearing black pants and a blue long overcoat with a scarf, and Mari with black leggins and a wool sweater dress. I hadn't even noticed what I put on, and I didn't care.

Alya still looked confused. "Dude, why did you both look like you wanted to drown Gabriel Agreste?"

"He just…" I trailed off, trying to find something to say. This was bad- I didn't want him anywhere closer, not to me, not to Mari, and definitely not to Alya, who didn't know and couldn't protect herself. "There was this guy on a commercial, a few years back, we both saw it, a few days before I moved here." I scratched the back of my head, brain on overload as I came up with a half decent excuse. "He looked identical to that guy, Gabriel, but the guy in the commercial was a criminal."

"Yeah." Mari joined in. "I don't trust him. We lived in a pretty rural area before- no one knew about him so he could get away with almost anything. Murder, robbing, kidnapping…" She paused. "Please, I know this could just be a coincidence, but please… don't talk to him alone."

"Creepy old guy that might be a criminal?" Alya asked. "I know I might have an obsession with superheroes, but seriously, i'm not _that_ bad."

Gabriel didn't do anything but stare during the actual shoot. It was inexplicably unnerving and uncomfortable, but we were at work, we needed the money. Mr. Gracestone stood arms crossed next to him the entire time, dwarfing him in height still.

"Adrian, huh?" Gabriel said with a smirk right as we were leaving. I don't know why he said what he did next. "My wife named our son Adrian, too."

I turned to look at him as Mari got into the taxi, raising my eyebrow. Even though it's not my real name, it's very close to my real name, and him having child? As far as I know, this will be his first one. "Your point?"

He blinked, before smiling slightly. "Oh, you don't know? None of the other immortals told you the plan I have for you? I'm surprised."

"So are you going to tell me yourself?" I asked calmly, trying my best to keep my face passive. What plan? And if it was such a bad plan that the other immortals would try to warn me, why would he tell them it in the first place? "Or will you just give me that brooch on your neck? We might forgive you if you do." Lie.

"No fun in that, Arden." He shifted, as if about to move forward. Still wary, I took a step backwards, meeting his eyes the entire time before turning on my heel and going to the taxi. I could feel Plagg's sheer anger for the immortal burning in his part of my soul, and from where he was in my pocket with Tikki. Out of every immortal or kwami, he held the most hate for the man. The only one coming close being Mason.

And that was the easiest part of the weekend.

We had tomorrow, sunday, off for halloween. Even though I haven't gone trick or treating in years, Mr. Gracestone still gave all the minors the day off, making them promise to balance their diet of sweets. After lunch, we joined Nino and Alya at a candy store to grab some sweets, before heading back to our place to watch some horror. For the first hour, We watched a b rated movie, the kwami nestled in my hair, before Tikki shivered and Plagg hissed at something.

"Hey, Mari, help me make some more popcorn." I got up, moving over towards the kitchen with Mari behind me. "Don't snog each other too hard while we're gone."

"You english or something? Snog?" Nino laughed as Alya said. "Like you won't be doing the same."

That made me blush more than it should.

We walked into the kitchen, the kwami flying to sit on the shelf. Marinette looked at me curiously. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." I said, looking at the kwami, "Just had a hunch."

"There's an akuma out." Tikki said in explanation. "It feels, weird, like its gaining power by the minute."

"Isn't that what a lot of akumas do?" Mari asked. "Timebreaker stole power and it made her stronger."

"No…" TIkki shook her head. "It feels different. It's… it's not power, it's more like a lifeforce."

I narrowed my eyes, "What do you mean, lifeforce?"

The power went out, blanketing the entire apartment in darkness. Static seemed to buzz in the air, whispering something in the winds.

 _They say the ghost goes away when the clock hits midnight, but I say it's the other way around._

X

"All the power in Paris is out. Everything electronic is malfunctioning, but everything else hasn't been touched." Ladybug landed next to me, footfalls soft as she looked around. "The weird thing is the people. They're attacking each other and robbing stores, kids trick or treating are going missing, and everything is going down a hell hole. I thought that maybe the akuma could be doing it, but they all just seem to be in a furious panic."

 _Isn't it your job to calm them down? Doing a terrific job, arent you Mari?_

I blinked, shaking the surprising thought out of my head. Standing up from my crouched posistion, I looked out over the street below. It was quiet where we were, a group of kids still ran up and down the street asking for candy. The adults giving out the candy was gone, but the kids were still only taking a few peices from each. Good kids.

"It'll show up eventually." I said after a moment. "It defeats the entire purpose of having an akuma if they never attack us."

Marinette scrunched her eyebrows in thought. "If it was someone chasing us right now, do you think we could lure it out of Paris? With it gone, maybe the lights will come back on."

I looked back down at the kids. The night light posts seemed to be the only source of light that wasn't off, which was good for Mari, who couldn't see in the dark as well as I could.

 _Slows you down, huh?_

"We'd be taking the akuma to some other city, through, a city not prepared for akumas." I responded. "The panic would be extreme, and the citizens might try to stop us from working."

Mari frowned, more at me then at the idea, causing me to furrow my eyebrows. On a dime, I changed the subject. "Has Tikki said anything?"

It's not uncommon for them to not say anything while suited up, I'm just surprised at how silent Plagg has been, since he was so off put about this akuma. Maybe he's just thinking.

"Buzzing about something or other in a different language." Marinette waved the question away. "Come on, lets do another lap."

 _Like you and your blind eyes will be a help at all._

An hour later, we landed on a park bench, out of luck and tired. Marinette groaned loudly. "Where is it hiding?! No subway, no tower, no walking around the streets! Not in the school or anywhere-"

She trailed off as a man wielding a baseball bat strayed closer, eyeing us warily while tapping the thing. We shared a glance, before I got up, giving the man's my famous grin. "Hey, sir, is there a cat-astrophe you need help with?" The man gulped, backing up with fear in his eyes. I raised an eyebrow, shifting slightly in defense. "What? Cat got your tongue?"

In a single second, the fear in his eyes turned into raging fury, and he swung his bat as hard as possible. Instinctively, I jumped back, shielding myself with my arm. The bat connected with my forearm, so close to breaking something but just a little to soft. I hissed in pain, jumping backwards completely to hold my arm. Even though leather fabric covered it, I could feel the bruise blooming underneath.

The man ran forward, bat held over his head. Holding my bad hand to my chest, I ducked down, doing a partial handstand before kicking my feet out into the man's chest, causing him to groan and collapse. As he staggered to his knees, Marinette wrapped the yoyo around his bat, taking it away easily, and holding it behind her.

 _That's a good partner, she is. Letting you get hurt before helping out._

In the back of my head, past the pain, I could hear some chattering, like Plagg was mewling at something. It was soft, so soft that I didn't know if it was real, or if my mind wanted to give me comfort for the pain, and was making Plagg up instead.

After a moment, when we were sure the guy wasn't getting up, Marinette gilded towards me, gently taking my arm. "Broken?"

"Fractured at most. Internal bruising definitely, but nothing to bad. Still have my dominant arm." I took my arm out of her grip, waving around my free arm somewhat wildly so she could see that I was fine. A small smile lit her face, which made me smile too. After a moment I stepped back, moving towards the still down man.

"Hey." I nudged him with my toe. "Why'd you attack me?" When he didn't answer, I crouched down next to him, slapping his face lightly. "Hey I know you might've never been in a fight before but I didn't get you that hard."

I looked closer at the man. His skin had a slight greyish tint to it, something I thought had to do with the light or my night vision but looking this close I could easily tell it didn't. It looked as if his skin had a second layer, so thin and almost transparent that the normal eye might not even catch it.

I turned to look at Marinette, scanning the only skin I could see while she still had on a mask, around her cheeks. It's usaully vibrant tan and peach tones were dull, no flush to them whatsoever, and also slightly grey, albeit in a much lower tone. "Hey, my lady, there's something on this guy's skin-"

In jus the blink of an eye, all the lamp posts cut off, blanketing the city in darkness, before turning on a millisecond later. The guy shot forward, gasping as if he just had a nightmare. Any sign of that weird tint had disappeared. The man got up quickly, sputtering an apology and dashing away.

"I didn't see anything. Her tone didn't sound doubtful, but it felt like that to me. "What did you see?"

 _She doesn't believe you. Grey skin? Ha, she's going to laugh._

"Nevermind." I Said after a moment, then rethought. "I'll… tell you later."

X

After another 15 minutes of running around with nothing to say for it later, we were both starting to get annoyed.

"Maybe we should go back to Nino and Alya, wait for the akuma to show itself." I suggested, hopping to the top of a lamp post and crouching. My arm was burning, something I disliked even more then the sharp stab of pain the actual bat gave me, but I said nothing about it, resting it carefully on my knee.

"Maybe that's all we can do…" Marinette murmured, and I glanced at her. The grey tinged had darkened a fraction as we had been running around in silence. I looked at my own gloved hand, wondering if under it my skin was grey too.

"Ladybug! Chat Noir!" A police office waved wildly from where he stood some good meters away, before making a dead sprint over. His gaze flew by me to Ladybug, huffing before speaking. "You need to come see this."

X

The police office was dark, like every other building, but a decent amount of glowsticks hung on the walls and a few on the ceiling, casting an eerie glow to the whole place. A row of cells cover the far side wall, all open and empty. Probably because everyone it was holding was out, yelling and trashing things and hurting others.

"Connor!" Captain Roger yelled out in the din of noise, pushing through passing officers. He glanced at us with a scowl. "Why'd you bring kids here?"

 _He doesn't believe what you told them all. He thinks you lied._

Connor frowned. "Since they're combat advanced and they have, what i guess to be, thousands of years of experience-"

"I don't care if they can beat Bruce Lee with their pinkie finger. I don't care if they're 15 million years old. They look like kids and kids should not see this."

He waved behind him, and I could see an officer dragging a male officer with a shredded knife wound out of the fray. Looking up again, I noticed something that gave me a large double take.

Since I noticed before, I had been looking at passing people as we went, checking out how noticable their grey skin was. Many it was barely noticable, some it was there but almost hidden in the low light around the city. Those with the more noticeable skin were the ones who seemed more panicked and scared. More aggressive.

That would make sense as to why no one under the age of ten seemed to have it, or even seemed at all paranoid. They were completely oblivious, and even if they weren't, they would be more likely to hide then fight.

But then that didn't explain why the police officer, Connor, was almost devoid of even a tint of grey. It was so nonexistent, that now he almost stood out like a beacon, especially next to Roger, who was starting to look like a statue.

 _Overthinking it. You need to find the akuma._

I do need to find the akuma, but I don't think im overthinking it… Connor looked confused, tilting his head. "If they are millions of years old, they have probably seen way worse, captain."

Try Genghis Khan's sock drawer.

I shudder at the memory.

That was when a criminal wielding a kitchen knife moved past the fray, charging towards Roger with murderous intent, the green and blue glow sticks making his almost solid grey skin unnoticeable to even the enhanced eye. Ladybug noticed at the same time. "Roger-"

We acted as one.

Marinette made a move forward, pulling Roger out of the way while simultaneously stepping in front of Connor. I pulled out my baton, holding it out one handed, letting the knife scrape off it towards the floor, which brought the man's arm with it. She kicked the man's hand, disarming him as I hit the back of his legs, making him fall to the floor. With her yo-yo, Marinette grabbed a hanging pair of cuffs, flicking them over to me. I caught them, locking them onto the man's wrists behind his back. I had to ignore the pain of my arm, but it was slight, and the whole thing had been five seconds at most.

Roger blinked in surprise, mouth slightly open, but Connor just grinned slightly, mirth flashing in his eyes. After a moment, he looked at me. "Are you injured? Your arm?"

If not for the years of practice, I would've look visibly surprised as well at that moment. Instead, I grinned again. "S'fine. Just a little bruise. A few painkillers and it'll be fine."

"I can see it now." Marinette mumbled. "'Superhero Chat Noir stuck in hospital because he didn't properly heal his arm. Just a few painkillers~'" Her tone was light though, and she smiled.

And, for a second, her skin lightened.

We helped clear out the station, locking the basically grey criminals up back in their cells. I really didn't know how the cops or Marinette got around, even if their eyes adjusted. The glow sticks were waning down, the moon was almost the only light in the building.

"28 prisoners accounted for with a plus 12 missing. From accounted prisoners, 10 injured, and 6 deceased." Someone reported over the comms. I hung my head slightly, saddened by the news. Marinette's cleanse heals the living, but not the dead. Well, at least, not Immortals. We've tried, many times…

 _You could've gotten them all if she had done a better job. No one would've died either._

No… that wasn't anyone's fault, the only fault it was, was Gabe's. If I think negatively all the time, then I won't be able to do good as easily-

Wait.

Those… aren't _my_ thoughts.

" _Mari_!"

X

"Who's Mari?" Connor asked curiously, head tilted. He was the only one close enough to hear me besides Mari.

"Someone who might know the akuma." I pulled up a lie, spewing it out without even realizing it. "We gave you our number? Call whenever something's wrong. Ladybug-"

She was already next to me, following me out of the police station, matching my quicken stride as we left the building into the cooler air. Even with the heat off, the building was still warmer. "Chat? What happened?"

"Remember when I noticed something early but didn't elaborate?" I almost cut her off with how quick I was talking, unconsciously wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her up on top of a particularly tall building. The contact felt wrong, every part of my brain said no, like she isn't my long time best friend, but my entire body was basically purring for the contact, as if I had been deprived of it. It's why I didn't let go as I sat down, pulling her down with me. She didn't say anything, though.

"Yeah, something about skin." Marinette, Mari nodded. "What 'eureka' moment did you have?"

"Every single one possible on this subject." I grinned mischievously, more as a little excitement then an answer. I nodded mentally when she giggled, her skin changing a hair of a fraction. "On all the people I've seen since this started, I've seen this little grey sheet of skin or something wrapped around them. When we knocked that bat guy out, and the lights went off, when I looked at him again, he looked completely normal. It had gone."

Mari nodded, but said nothing as I continued, leaning a little more on her. "I think this is the akuma's power- borderline mind manipulation. Have you heard this little negative voice in your head?" I wasn't surprised at her nod. "Suspected so. It's the akuma. I think that when you first hear the voice, your skin color is a barely noticeable grey, but then when you start doing what the voice says, like hurting someone, you get to a darker grey, until you're so far gone that you're not in control anymore."

"Complete control?" She asked. "We've dealt with that before, we should be fine. We just need to find the akuma."

 _Barely listening to you-_

I blinked, mentally shaking my head to get rid of the voice. Shaking my head physically, I said "This is different though. None of the other akumas had their captives kill people. And it hit everyone in the city at once with no warning." I shook my head. "Except for the children… and Conner. They're completely fine-"

"Wait." Mari interrupted. "Connor isn't grey at all?"

"Not at all." I nodded.

Mari tapped her chin, shaking her head in thought. "Kids… innocence, maybe? But then Conner is a grown man in the police force. He seen some things, definitely. What connects that?"

I shrugged, looking around. "He did seem a little, off. Gullibility?"

"Wouldn't that make them more likely to turn grey?" She paused, before snapping her fingers. "Moral."

"What?"

"Kids are gullible, your right." She said. "They're very impressionable, but most parents give their kids good morals, like using manners, helping people, and stopping violence. Stuff like stranger danger. That voice won't work on them because it's a strange telling them to do stuff their parents told them not to."

"And Connor seems to have good morals as well…" I agreed, thinking about it. "And most people aren't that grey, except for the criminals-"

"-Who wouldn't have as many or any morals-" Mari completed the setence.

"And some others, like baseball bat man, but he seemed more scared then evil, persay…" I trailed off again. "I need to find a mirror."

"To see how grey you are?" She asked. "I don't have night vision, but you don't seem to different."

I touched the skin around my face, trying to feel through the pads of my gloves, as if I could tell just by touch. "I just want to make sure." I said. "I can head to the apartment and check."

"Alya and Nino will be there, though." Mari held her yoyo. "I got some cookies in on me. I'll lucky charm one for you."

"Figured out how to control it?"

A smirk. "More or less."

A moment later, a full length mirror fell down, ladybug barely catching it before it broke. She huffed slightly, setting it down. I raised an eyebrow at the height of it.

"This is the 'less', part." Mari grumbled. "I'll work on it later. But for now, take a look, it's to dark for me to see."

I moved to the mirror and yelped. I hadn't even had a good look yet, and I had already realized that the problem wasn't the skin.

Surrounding my body like a cloud, black particle smog floated around, staying packed around my general form.

"What's wrong, Chat?" Mari asked, but I put my hand to my lips, purposely being a bit rude. Immediately as I did that, I could see Mari's lips tilt down in the mirror, while the black smoke around her flared.

That's when it happened.

Crawling out of the ground (through the roof), something that could barely be described as humanoid climbed out of the ground. It was easily 6 feet, shooting towards 7, with a pencil thin body and gangly long legs and arms, like noodles almost. It was clad in black, with white armbands around it's biceps, and thighs, three around the ankles and one for a neckline, even though the clothes covered it's face. On its head, a full mask with pitch black way to big eyes draw on it, purple circles around the cheeks, and a wide, open smile on its face, showing off sharp teeth in between it's red painted lips.

It crawled out of the ground with it's hands, but after that it's arms stayed limp to its side, its legs also dragged on the ground as if it was a puppet, or an marinette doll. I forced myself to stay still, eyes staying on Mari when it glanced at the mirror, at me. When it reached her, it crouched by her ear, nothing moving but I could tell it said something when Mari blinked, clenching her fists before breathing in to cool herself down.

"Mari." I whispered as soft as possibly, staying still otherwise. The thing made no notice of me talking, still next to her ear. She tilted her head to me through the mirror, and as softly as I could, I said, "In two seconds, turn 8 o'clock and grab at the air, as fast as possible. Trust me."

Even with the voice's negative words, Mari still did exactly as said, gracefully spinning in the air to look straight through the thing and diving into it, knocking it over. They hit the ground, and the thing fell limp, as if the strings holding it had fallen. As it did, the ting became visible without the mirror. Mari gasped, jumping off of the creepy thing before thinking twice and jumping back on, turning to me. "Chat, help please."

I moved over to her side immediately, grabbing a hold of the thing. It was icy cold, like it had been in a freezer for years. The thing definitely, and probably never had been, alive. With that thought I gripped the arm tighter and brought it to my hurt arm, sighing slightly when the pain started to numb. "Is there a reason for this, my lady?"

"The baseball bat guy, after he passed out, the lights went out, you said the grey was gone. I'm thinking the same-"

Darkness blanketed the whole city again, and suddenly, we were being pulled. It was so fast and strong that I couldn't even try to stop it. I could barely stop myself from getting whiplash. My mouth opened to gasp, but we stopped before I could even part my lips. Like last time, it had happened within a second.

My gut dropped as we stopped, and I almost puked then and there. We were in an almost completely dark building, the only light from a pedestal in the middle of the room. I went to get up, before crying out as the journey caught up to my arm, hot flashes of pain rippling through it. Mari, instead, slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle to noise, gently holding said arm as she touched her earrings.

1 spot left.

Someone was by the pedestal, a figure in complete black. He turned towards us, and Mari pulled us over to stack of containers, transforming back quietly as I watched the figure. It moved to the monster thing, strings shimmering into existence from it's fingers connecting to the monster. It was a puppet. The figure moved it's fingers idly, watching the puppet move up and towards a small pile of other puppets. If i've thought of it right, baseball bat guy's evil voice was one of those puppets, and probably some of those criminal's puppets were there too.

The figure messed with the puppet when I went to attack. It was way too easy to snatch the akuma, something on the guy's cloak. To easy to turn it to dust. I voiced the thought when Mari was Ladybug again.

She groaned after she purified the akuma. _"I forgot the mirror_! We have to go back and-" Her eyes widened, and that was the only clue I had to dive to the side. A blade hovered right where my spine had been seconds before, and the figure stood behind it, now a middle age man with short brown hair, yellow looking eyes, and a snake tattoo starting at his left ring finger, curling up his arm and neck, and ending with it engulfing one of his eyes.

The guy sneered. "Stupid fucking kids!" He screeched, slightly insane. "You should of stayed out of my fucking way!"

" _Woah_!" Mari gasped as she moved backwards, twirling her yoyo. "I thought everything was fine after purification!"

"Bitch!" He sneered. "You should of let me finished-"

Im done.

"Hey." I said in a deeper voice, cutting him off. I disarmed the man, ignoring the stinging pain in my arm as I tossed the knife away, hands clenching his collar as I pulled him nose to nose. " _Don't you ever call Ladybug anything less than amazing ever again."_

Then I punched him, hard. He was out a second later.

X

As we went towards the mirror in the darkness, a thought struck me. "Was that man wearing a prison jumper?"

Marinette glanced at me as she jumped over a roof. "Think he was a criminal like the others?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. I can look him up later, I got a pretty good look at him."

Mari frowned and stopped, plopping to the floor. I tilted my head, stopping and moving down next to him. "Something wrong Mari?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, just lay down. Use me as a pillow for a second.' She patted her lap. "I need to show you something." She laughed when I raised an eyebrow. "You could just use the rooftop. I'd thought this would be more comfortable."

I shrugged again, laying down. Mari pointed to the sky, where thousands of stars shown in the night with the grey moon in the middle of it. I looked at it, before looking at her. "It's pretty, but don't you think we could do this later..? We have to cleanse the city…"

She put her finger to her lips, still pointing skywards. "What do you see up there?"

"Stars and a moon, Mari."

She smiled. "You need to look a little deeper then that." After a moment of my confused silence, she continued. "I see beauty and mystery, but I mostly see wisdom and age. The moon and the stars… so old, but so beautiful. A few hundred years ago, they were considered immortal."

I frowned. "Where are you going with this?"

She carded her fingers through my hair before continuing. "In all our years alive, these are some of the only things that never changed. People were born and people were killed, kingdoms created and destroyed, but nothing ever changes up there. No matter what people could do down here, they couldn't change the moon or stars. Even though they've now stepped on the moon, they still can't change it. But we're... we're the opposite."

I hummed in contentment. "What do you mean by that?"

"We changed with each kingdom, with each birth and each death. Every person we meet impacts us, and sometimes that's good, but sometimes that's bad. We started off like a newborn moon, but we grew craters."

"Parents call that growing up, Mari." I chuckled.

She gave a laughing hum in return. "Let's start acting more like the moon, lets stop letting people change us into their own image. We're to old for that." She gave a sad smile. "If we get anymore craters, we might just fall apart.

X.

We landed on the terance, walking into the apartment. It was late, and Nino and Alya weren't there. Everything was back to normal, mostly. The pain had left my arm, but a big black bruise still bloomed on it. Mari plopped on the couch, transforming back with a sigh. "Can I sleep for a week? I feel so… pessimistic."

I draped over the armchair. "Same. Let's call in sick for school and work."

That's when I heard the giggle.

I looked at Mari, but she was out of it, she didn't giggle. I looked around again, slightly more alert.

Alya was by the bathroom door.

"I am _soooo_ happy I didn't leave with Nino."

X

 **If anyone can get my reference at the police station, i'll call you out in the next chapter(s).**

 **I'm watching some season 2 episodes to see if I want to add anything from them, and I like the episodes, even though I'm sort of iffy about how their doing the transformations. Like, Ladybug and Chat can know everyone's identities but each other? And they give their identities out almost as bad as Spider Man does. Like srly, choose.**

 **RAISE** **A HAND if you wished they treated the duo more like a duo then a hero and sidekick! That's my biggest problem with the show, the duo more or less acts like a duo but Ladybug does say things as if she was superior and Chat even acknowledges it before. I now this show was focused on a female lead, and that made me soooo happy, but why can't they be equal? Why can Ladybug almost easily best Chat, even with him trying? I HATE that. I would LOVE if for a couple scenes, they make a plan together, or train together, or maybe have CHAT beat the akuma instead of just being a distraction. It upsets me that while trying to make the female lead look better, they're messing with the male lead. He's goofy and wants to protect her, yeah, I know, but there are so many BETTER ways to do that AND have them stay equal! (This was made b4 the season 2… final? I guess. The 2nd Volpina just came out…)** **And from all the episodes I've watched, Chat hasn't once given out a miraculous. Equality my ass, this is why I stopped watching the show tbh.**

 **Someone tell me an episode where they're equal and work well together, please _I BEG OF THEE_. I will literally call you out if you give me a season 2 episode like that, that I like. _PLEEEASE_. Sandboy is a good example of Chat actually doing something, but it also makes Ladybug a damsel.**

I **would love to hear your opinions on this though! Reviews make me want to write more, and of course I read all of them!**


	14. Chapter 14: Stories

**_When you live forever_**

 ** _Your own story grows longer_**

 _"There is no greater agony then bearing an untold story inside you."_

 _Maya Angelou_.

 **Marinette**

Alya stayed the night, agian.

I woke up to her snoring at the foot of the bed, sniffling whenever Mari (who was perched on her head) swung her tail in front of Alya's nose. Silently getting out of bed, I looked outside and checked the clock, before groaning softly. Two hours before my alarm, great.

I moved to the room, slowly opening the door and slipping out. Tikki offered me a sleepy wave from where she laid, but didn't move to follow, still mostly asleep.

Taking a quick shower, I put back on the clean pajamas (I had time) and padded out into the living room. Moving towards the coffee table in front of the TV, I sat down, turning the TV on and filing through the bills scattered on the table.

' _Parisian scientists are looking into the phenomenon known as Ladybug and Chat Noir.'_ I looked up, catching interest. ' _Even though many are sceptical about the truth behind Chat Noir's words at the egyptian museum, the facts are starting to line up. Going over to Dr. Celtic Webler for more.'_

' _Thank you_.' A greying man truffled, standing at what looked to be the construction area of the statue Paris is building. _'It really does seem like they are immortal beings when you start looking for answers. Starting with the egyptian tombstone, we have gotten confirmation from a Russian archaeologist that Chat Noir was indeed correct. Now, he might be able to just read the script, but the pictures drawn on the tablet depicting them also shows to Chat telling the truth. Eyeless in the picture, but an exact replication of the modern day heroes. Descendant is a theory, but not much evidence goes into it. The really interesting part of this is the mythological standpoint of all of this. I'll let Professor Jessica Malbury explain.'_

I set down the letters, leaning back as a brown haired strict looking lady filled the screen. ' _Thank you, Webler. See, most children are taught fairytales when their young, but not many know about the hidden story Paris has. My colleagues and i are in the mist of depicting an old journal, dating back thousands of years ago, written in an old French dialect. It expands greatly on our knowledge of how our beloved city was created, and we found two people that might interest our audience…'_

She paused, pulling up a paper and clearing her throat. ' _Hmm… to the ones who created this city, the one with gold hair and the one with blue, let you and your group fly high forever in your eternal grace.' She went to another page. 'Grandfather is the oldest in the village, or so it seems. I've heard the stories about the eternals, and my sister was a messenger of theirs. She oftens talks about them, her favorite being the leaders, the black cat and Ladybug. One day she came home crying. She said they left, but wouldn't say more. She was the last person to see them.'_

The reporter's face split the screen _. 'Thank you, and what do you think it all means, Professor?'_

Malbury smiled _. 'How little of a chance that Ladybug and Chat Noir know hyroglyphs, that chance is down to almost impossible adding the ancient French dialect. My question isn't if they're lying, I am certain they weren't. My new question is, are there more of them? The journal gives the impression, but where are they? Was the tombstone Chat Noir looked at for one of them?'_

 _'All great questions.'_ The reporter said _. 'And we'll be back with more when we learn more information, but you have it here- Chat Noir seems to be telling the truth. If anyone has anymore information, please call the number below_ …'

The reporter went off to another subject, and I picked up another bill, scanning it and groaning. The water bill and electric bill had almost doubled since I came, which made sense but was still a pain.

Arms appeared from behind me, wrapping around me. I would've elbowed the owner of the arms if the owner didn't sound so cat like just walking up. Adrian groaned slightly, nuzzling into my neck with a yawn, his eyes closed. "Why 'ou uwp so erly?" His muffled voice slurred.

I giggled as his hair tickled me, placing a hand on the top of it. "Just woke up early, kitty. I'm looking at the bills. How'd you even make it over here, you're half asleep."

He didn't answer, just moving closer. He _is_ an actual cat. After a moment, he let go, stretching to wake himself. "Ew, bills."

"S'not all bad." I said, gesturing to the screen. "They just had a segment on us a few minutes ago. They found an old journal and some archeologists agreed with your translation. They believe you."

"Really." He was much more coherent as he flopped down on the couch, arms crossed. "The news believes it? I dunno whether to be surprised or sceptical."

We sorted through the letters for the next few minutes before Adrian went to get ready. I went to get changed after, not surprised that Alya was in the shower. By the time she got out, I was completely ready, bag packed.

"I have questions." She said after I was ready.

I smiled tightly. I was ready for this. "Hhmm? What questions?"

Alya's hand seemed to twitch, as if wanting to go to her phone. But, she seemed to stop herself. "Well, I guess I have only two. Why didn't you tell me? And I don't want any 'it'll keep you safe' bullshit, cause I'd be safer knowing either way."

"We always planned on telling you." I said gently, holding up my hands. "We just didn't know when. We're pretty sure Gabe's going to target you anyway, now."

Alya blinked. "Gabe? Who's-" her eyes widened. "Gabriel Agreste? The fricken designer? That's why Adrian looked like he was about to attack the man!"

"Yes." I nodded. "Gabe's an immortal too- he's known by the public as Hawkmoth. To us, all he is is a murderer."

Alya's face morphed into concern. "What?"

I checked the time. Adrian wasn't ready, but we still had time before we had to leave. "When Chat, or Adrian, was talking about the tomb in the Egyptian exhibit…"

It clicked in her head. "Was that person an immortal as well? Did Gabriel kill them?"

"Jani," I heard Adrian say as he left his room. "The immortal with the bear miraculous. And boy, did she deserve it."

I wrinkled my nose. "Jani might've been grizzly at some points-"

"She was a bear at heart."

"-but that doesn't mean that she herself was a bear." I finished. "Are you a cat?"

He shrugged. "You've seen me on Sundays."

"True." Alya nodded. "He got Nino to rub his head one time while we were over, before you got here. Purred and everything. It all makes so much more sense…"

Adrian smiled at his small victory. "You said you had two questions."

He'd been listening for that long?

"Well," Alya started. "I just wanted to know the history behind this. Mostly, I wanted to know about my ancestor. Is Fred… still alive? Mari said that Gabe murdered one of the other Immortals…"

Adrian gave her a sympathetic look. Every descendant wanted to know about their ancestor, and each time, we had to tell them about their death. The thing was, she was a descendant of _Fred_. Fred was the only immortal that might be alive (besides Gabe) who had any children.

"Let's sit down." I said instead of answering. "We might be a little late to school."

"School?" Alya asked. "My mom texted me- school's cancelled today- to honor those who died yesterday in the akuma attack."

I visibly flinched, as did Adrian. I couldn't bring people back from the dead, no matter how much I wanted to. "Oh." I murmured, falling onto the couch next to Adrian.

The immortal was still half asleep and lazy, so I wasn't surprised when he buried his face into my neck. I shook my head in amusement. Now that Alya knew, any feline affection he usually gave me wasn't hidden anymore.

After Alya sat down, Adrian looked back up. "I'm just going to tear the band aid off, okay?" He told Alya.

Alya nodded, masking her face.

"We don't know if Fred is still alive."

Alya let out a loud breath, laughing slightly. "Oh, oh! I was sure you were going to say that he was dead! I'll take a 'I don't know' anyday over that!"

I smiled. "I'll start from the beginning. A long, long, time ago, in a galaxy far far away-"

Alya arched an eyebrow. "Star Wars?"

Adrian shrugged. "We were friends with George Lucas when he was growing up."

Alya blinked. Adrian just laughed. "Anyway, thousands and thousands of years ago, we were born into an average size village, around twenty pairs of people, with a few singles and free travelers. Mari, here, was born to the chief, and I was born to some peasants, or, to the lower life of the village."

I had seriously forgotten about that. "When we were about five or so, a disease hit the children of our village." I continued. "All of the children we hung out with died. All of them, except for us."

"They had to let us play together after that." Adrian added jokingly. "They didn't want princess Mari to be all alone."

"I wasn't a princess."

"If Pocahontas can be called a princess then you can be called one too."

"Anyway." I cut off the side rambling, drawing Alya's attention back to me. She listened intently. "The sickness hit the females of the village too, and for around ten years, not a single child was born. It was only us."

Alya's eyebrows furrowed, deeply confused. Adrian picked it up. "When we were around 14, the first child in years was born. A girl named Mason. Two years later, and 17 other children had been born, all of them -aside from Mason- free from any sickness." He gave Alya a flitting look. "Fred, and his twin, George, were two of them."

Alya's eyes brightened, before confusion took over. "Fred and George? That sounds strangely familiar, like a book I've read."

"Don't worry about that." I said quickly. "ANYWAY, the night I turned 17, we were all blessed by the goddess Paris. The 18 other children turned into teenagers as well, and we were all granted with immortality and strength, as well as a face change."

"I used to be brunette." Adrian added in with a Cheshire grin. "But yeah. For the next few centuries, we built a city. We named it Paris, to celebrate the goddess that gave us our immortality."

Alya exhaled sharply. "You mean…"

"Yep."

I grinned. "We created this city- from the ground up. Everything was great for a long while. We were never attacked, and we were the nicest place around." My expression soured. "It all changed when Gabe became tainted with power."

Alya looked like she wanted to say something, but held her tongue. Adrian continued. "He somehow managed to kill one of the other Immortals. When Mari and I arrived at the scene, he, somehow, took our powers, putting them into a separate form, the kwamis. Tikki and Plagg. And since the others got their power from us- once we lost ours, they lost theirs as well, put into kwami. We couldn't die of age, but we could die from violence."

"Gabe went on a murder spree." I whispered brokenly. "Just casting the spell killed all the mortals around, and all of the Immortals were in one place as well, weakened and confused. Several died right then, just helping us escape."

Adrian dropped an arm around my shoulders in silent comfort. "Mason was our second in command- the others were to listen to her when we weren't around. She was able to save those who hadn't passed yet. Every since then, she's been watching our backs, keeping Gabe off our trail. That was thousands of years ago."

"Why…" Alya gulped, as if afraid to ask. "Why haven't I seen her, then?"

I wiped at my eyes, blinking. "Ten years ago. He had caught up to us, and we hadn't even known. She stayed back to give us more time, but she seemed to… ready. Ready for it to be over."

"I refuse to believe it." Adrian said sternly. "Anyway, we've been traveling, moving from place to place since then. As far as we know, we're still pretty much immortal. The only thing that can kill us is another Immortal's weapon. Since then, Gabe has managed to kill almost every single other immortal. The only two unaccounted for are-"

"Fred and George." Alya finishes, getting excited. "You don't know what happened to them. They could still be around. And so could Mason! 5 against 1 at best, but it's already 2 against 1, and you two are the strongest Immortals, right?"

I bit my lip. "Whenever Gabe kills an immortal, they don't go to an afterlife, but they go into his brooch, his own miraculous. I pretty sure he can channel them through that. He has the abilities of all the other miraculous."

Alya sat silent for a moment, before leaning back on the couch. "Damn."

"Damn indeed." Adrian agreed.

The door to my room opened slightly, and Mari the cat stepped through, followed by Tikki and Plagg.

"Sorry to interrupt." Tikki chirped. "But I sense an akuma."

I groaned. Already?!

 **Hey guys- What? No! It hasn't been more then a month since I last uploaded *takes step back* what are you talking about? No... *another step* it's still 2018, fix your watches, I'm sure it is *bolts*.**


	15. Chapter 15: Time

**_When you live forever..._**

 ** _Seeing something old is sometimes better then seeing something new._**

 _'Writer's block. That is my only excuse. I apologize_ **.** '

-Writer

———————

 **Adrian**

I detransformed on top of a rooftop, once I made sure the roof was clear. Panting, I laid down, enjoying the cool air.

Mime wasn't even hard to defeat, but he ran around like crazy. It had tired me out more than I thought it would.

The sound of Mari's yo-yo made me crack an eye open. She usually had cheese in her purse, and Plagg was mewling on my stomach either way. She sat indian style next to me, tapping my shoulder before handing a cheese square to Plagg. She had sat next to a machine of some sort, and now she was leaning against it, tired as well.

"Wasn't… that fun?" I panted.

"Extra." Mari murmured, closing her eyes. "I love chasing invisible cars around a city full of pedestrians."

The door to the roof flew open, and Alya walked through, phone on but tucked away. Upon seeing us, she turned it off. "They've disappeared again! Thanks for watching, and make sure to tune in next time on the LC Blog, the best blog for your superhero needs! Bye!"

I waited for her to walk over before speaking. "How'd you get up here? I'm pretty sure half of those floors are locked."

Alya grinned. "Ever since I saw Mari do her gymnastics tricks, I started practicing them… all of these Paris buildings are surprisingly climbable. Went window to window, inside and out."

Mari placed her hand on her head. "Don't do that again. Please."

"No promises." Alya looked both of them over. "You both look like actual crap. How much sleep did-"

She never finished. I turned to look at her, before scrambling up, surprised. Mari made a sound next to be, jumping up as well. Alya was no longer there, but a knight stood in her spot, another one behind her. "Youth of today!" The other knight announced. "Come take your spot next to your new ruler, Darkblade!"

X.

We were tired- the kwami barely had a chance to gain energy back and we weren't prepared. The only thing that helped us get away was Tikki distracting the man, tickling him on accident.

As I ran towards the rooftop door, behind Mari, he spoke again. "Adrian, my most prized apprentice! Take your place by my side!"

Apprentice? I've never seen the man before-

"Oh no." I breathed.

"What?" Mari asked, shouldering a door open and closing it behind us. "What, oh no?"

"That's Mr. D'Argencourt, my fencing teacher." I explained.

"You take fencing?" Mari asked, surprised.

"Is this really the time?!"

We jumped down the staircases, reaching the bottom in a few minutes. Running out the backdoor, we ran into the subway, leaning onto a pillar as he passed by, searching. Mari let out a breath, wiping her face, which shined with a thin layer of sweat. "This is bad. This is bad. I don't think the kwami can have another fight right afterwards like this-"

"Hey, hey." I put a hand under her chin, lifting her face up to me. She was beat red, gasping as she inhaled and exhaled. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. We'll beat this akuma just like the last ones. The kwami are eating now."

As if to prove it, Tikki floated up to rub her cheek against Mari's, eliciting a smile from the girl. "We'll be fine, Marinette."

"Speak for yourself." Plagg complained in a mewl. "I'm so faint right now…"

"Over dramatic." I snorted. "Just please, Transform me."

X.

Finding him had been easy- he was marching his entire army of knights to town hall, flag raised in the air. I landed on the side of the roof, holding on with a single hand as I surveyed the damage. "I don't see any casualties. No injured."

Mari breathed out a sigh of relief as she flew past on her yo-yo, landing closer to the top of the building. "What is he planning on doing?"

I squinted to look at him better, before calling out. "Hey, Tin can! That army of yours is lookin' preeeetty tiny!"

Darkblade looked up, fixing his eyes on us. "Acrobats? In skin suits? Are you my new entertainers? You must get better jokes!"

"Hey!" I squawked indignantly. "Well excuuuse me! My jokes are purrfectly pawsome!" I turned to shake my head at Mari. "I am _offended_."

Mari groaned.

"You shame the jester name with your mess of a joke!" Darkblade roared, suddenly quite mad. Because of a pun? Damn. Tough crowd. He pulled his sword out, "Come at thee! And face your punishment!"

I blinked. "Pun-ishment? Seriously?" I turned to Mari. "And you thought I was pawful!"

I gave a chuckle to the glare she gave me, before yowling like a cat when a wooden board sailed a few inches over my head. The knights were throwing stuff at us with a makeshift catapult. I don't even know how to explain the catapults themselves, but hey, I guess if it works…

It happened almost faster then I was ready for.

At one moment, Darkblade stood intimidatingly in front of an army of brainwashed Paris citizens, the next he was on the ground, squawking at a large furry dog licking his face. What?

Two more dogs joined the first, and they all dived at the man, attacking him with nose nudges, face licks, and, worst of all, slobber. I didn't know whether to be scared or laughing.

One of the dogs nudged the man, taking something between its teeth and running up to us. Darkblade slumped to the floor as the dog dropped the akuma into my hands. I blinked at both the akuma and the dog, gingerly breaking the akuma as the dog turned and trotted away.

Ladybug looked at me with a grin as she waited for me to finish my part of our job. "What?" I asked.

She only smiled larger. "Don't you recognize it?" She said softly. "That was Mason's power."

X.

I was a little pessimistic.

Yes, Mason was great at sneaking around, hiding when need be- but she never did that to us, only to those she didn't like. She would've showed herself by now, especially if that was her helping us.

I was pondering this as I huddled farther into my light jacket. It was cold, and I hadn't put on a heavier jacket when I transformed. Mari grabbed my hands, warming them with her own gloved fingers as we walked home. "What are you thinking about?"

Even though it was just a question to get my mind off of my freezing body, I still answered it truthfully. "I'm thinking-" I murmured. "About what you said. Where is she, if she's here?"

Mari looked up, sad. "What do you think she's doing?"

I paused, her words dawning on me. "Gabe."

She was hunting him. If she found him, there was no way she wasn't aiming to kill. The thought sent shivers down my spine. As a child, Mason had to mature, but she was always the innocent one. Thousands of years... years of _turmoil..._ it sucked that out of her.

I looked up, people watching as we passed through a park. There was a couple that caught my attention. They were playing as snow dusted the ground. The girl wore a fashionable outfit, and her grey beanie reminded me of someone. She was laughing, joy high in her voice as she jumped on the man's back playfully. They both fell to the ground, giggling.

They were both so happy. They looked familiar for some reason but I could only focus on the fact that I wish the girl didn't remind me so much of what Mason use to be. I haven't seen her smile like that girl did for centuries.

"Excuse me." A voice said behind us. We turned to see a man with a low hat, a stick in hand. "But staring isn't polite."

"Sorry." I murmured, embarrassment reddening my cheeks. "I didn't realize."

"You can make it up to me with some of Netta's croissants."

I froze.

The guy grinned, taking off his hat and oh my _Paris_ it was _Fred_. The couple walked over, still smiling and oh wait- "You're getting unobservant in your old age."

I scoffed. "We haven't seen you guys for centuries- and you grew your hair out!"

Mason smiled, and it reminded me of times long forgotten to the world. "That's how easy it is to fool you?"

X.

 **Marinette**

Alya still had her phone out by the time we got to our apartment. She turned it off without a huff before following us to our door.

"It'll be crowded." Adrian said with a knowing smirk. "We have old company."

"Cool." Alya said, before blinking. "Wait, old as in five years ago or old as in you're immortal?"

I just smiled as Adrian opened the door, swinging it wide. On the couch, Mason and George seemed to be wrestling, Mason shouting something about stolen ice cream as Fred watched from the other side of the couch, back towards the door and completely relaxed. Their three kwami flew around the fight as if playing tag, Tikki and Plagg watching from the table.

At the sound of Alya's gasp, Mason's head shot over, tense and alert before calming. George -from his position under Mason, hands holding back her wrists as they playfully tried to wack him- had to tilt his head back from where he almost completely laid on the couch. His eyes twinkled when they caught Alya's. "Oh, Freddie boy…"

That was when Fred finally turned around, giving Alya the first clear view of either the twins faces. Her hand flew to her mouth, eyes widening, and for a second, i thought she might lose her balance.

Fred then smiled. "Allo, Alya. Why, I haven't seen you since you were a baby."


	16. Chapter 16: Descendant

**_When you live forever..._**

 ** _Family is more important then you know_**

 _"The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other."_

-Mario Puzo

————————

 **Marinette**

We've met many descendants in our travels. Some of them we knew personally, from before what happened, in the beginning. As time past, they knew of us from their parents, who were direct descendants. Some of them had met their grandparents, but most hadn't.

The Immortals stayed away. Descendants were to good of hostages.

As more time passed, most families forgot about their ancestors all together. They thought their heightened abilities were just from genetics. Some had family stories. I knew of one descendant who, around the middle of all this stuff, helped collect those stories with our help. He made a book of fairytales, based off of those stories, one story for each immortal. In the few years we stayed around him, we helped spread those books to descendants. We didn't tell them the whole story, just what story was their ancestors.

It helped keep my friends' memories alive. I wouldn't let them disappear, when they had done so much for this world.

When technology came into play, many years after that descendant had died, I made an online copy and kept it in a flash drive. I had a few paper copies with me, but it was nice to just be able to email someone the book if need be. There aren't many descendants out there -Gabe wanted them gone too- but finding them became easier with social media.

But long story short, there's something magical about reunions, even if the people have never met. Adrian and I never dated anyone or had kids, so we had no one out there to visit. Neither did George and Mason, if I remember correctly. So seeing the dead immortal's descendants… it was always somber telling them.

But Fred. Fred, who, I'm sure I remember correctly, only ever had one kid. Only one line of descendants. This far down the latter, the genes that they shared were low, but they were there. Parts of her family might've been born without them, they might've been completely normal. But her family… her mother or father, herself, and maybe even her siblings… they were descendants.

Alya recognized him immediately. With his hair dyed red and her skin darker, they only shared the same eye color. The exact same eye color.

There were more differences then similarities, but, for some strange reason, they looked almost identical. I didn't get it.

Fred stood up, and Mason and George stopped their wrestling to watch. He stood in front of Alya for a few seconds, before opening his arms. "Can a great grandparent get a hug-"

He didn't get to finish, but Alya shot into his arms, crying what I assume to be happy tears. Fred grunted at the force before laughing, letting her get out all of her emotions before letting go. "How are you feeling now?"

Alya sniffed. "I was sceptical, with everything." She started. "What Mari And Adrian told me- I had hope but I doubted it so much… but I know. I dunno how I know but I know!" She opened her mouth before pausing, glaring slightly. "What! You're, like, thousands of years older than me, but why do you look younger? I look older than a few thousand year old grandad!"

It was silent for a moment, before George bursted out laughing. "Ha! She called you a grandad!"

Mason bonked his head, since they were still in the position they had been in wrestling. "Shh, that's because he is."

He pouted. "Doesn't make it not funny…"

Mason smiled, shaking her head. "You act like a little kid."

"Forever bachelor." He teased, and there was something there. How am I just now noticing?

"Alya, dear," Fred started, after glaring at his twin. "Did you forget that I'm immortal?"

"Is that red hair immortal, cause it needs to either go or be redone." She remarked, grinning widely. Mason and George both burst out laughing again.

"Like you're any different!" Fred yelled at his twin, before turning back to his descendant. "To be honest, this is not how I expected this to go."

"They're usually the ones teasing others." Adrian supplied. "Fred, she's your descendant, of course she's teasing you."

"You guys are actually very much alike." I said with a smile. Fred laughed softly, turning back to Alya.

"I meant to visit you earlier, but I had some... things get in the way." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

George scoffed. "Ha, things? Some man with no nose wouldn't leave us alone, you somehow almost died to him, and we had to save Mason from Gabe!"

They what? I turned towards Mason, who was berating the person she was sitting on for telling them about it. She grinned at me when she looked up, but did nothing besides that.

"Who's no nose man?" Adrian asked, eyes squinted. I could tell why he was interested, not only because of the name but because of the fact that he apparently almost killed an immortal.

"Don't worry about him." Fred started. "He's Dead now." George said. "It's just that." "He found Trix and Rabi once." "And got really interested in our business." "Even kidnapped us at one point." "Tried to Avada Kedavra me." "He was out for a week afterwards." "Long story short." "We made sure he suffered in the end."

George had a slight demonic look as he finished the story off, and I was suddenly very worried.

I think Alya felt the same way, and she quickly changed the subject. "So, if I'm a descendant, and there are… 20? of them… who else is a descendant that I know of?"

Mason looked back up. "I'd like to know that too. This place is a beacon for them."

"Well." I looked around the room, before going to sit down on the empty couch. Adrian sat down after me, and Alya took the last open arm chair. Mason and George stayed as they were, since it seemed like Mason was still upset about some ice cream. "You should know, Alya, that no one else in this room besides Fred ever had any kids."

Alya's eyes widened. "No, seriously? But you guys are, like, super old." She narrowed her eyes. "You guys were around before birth control!"

My face turned into a bright crimson, as did Adrian. The other three immortals, though, exploded into laughter. Alya looked confused.

"Alya." Mason started. "Marinette and Adrian never even got into that aspect of life. They've never dated anyone- I don't even know if they ever kissed anyone." Her eyes glittered in curiosity. "I'd be proud, you have more experience in something then two thousands of years old immortals."

Adrian sputtered next to me. I pouted, before continuing. "Yeah, Yeah, so we've never dated anyone." I said. "Not our fault, we were always together and it scared off possible suitors."

"Suitors?" Alya said softly, before falling into laughter. "You're so outdated!"

"Do you want to know who else." I almost snapped, but it got her to quiet. "Nino, first of all. He's a descendant of Wu."

Mason's eyes hardened, and her face went stoic. George tilted his head at her, moving up to lean against the armrest of the couch. It looked like he was about to push her off, when Mason came back to reality (oops there goes gravity-) and adjusted, bopping his head again and hissing some ice cream related threat.

"Chloe." I said. "We think she's a descendant of Nonna. Most of the kids in our class look like the could be descendants, but it's hard to tell. Their auras are hard to read."

"So." Mason started. "We have at least three different descendants to keep a watch on."

"Not exactly." Adrian spoke up. "Nino and Chloe should be fine, since their immortal ancestors are… dead. Gabe knows that we know them, but he also knows that we don't have such a strong bond with them as their own immortals would have, so there's less of a reason to go after them. Alya, though…"

"I'm still here." Fred said. "And because of that, she's still a target. I don't think Gabe knows Forge and I are here yet, but he knows we're alive."

"Ok, time out," Alya put her hands together like a referee would. "This is important and all, but I have a question that I'll forget if I don't say."

"Go for it." Fred turned towards her.

She stared at him, before her eyes narrowed slightly. "Why do we all live to be exactly 100?"

X.

A quiet 3 weeks had gone by with no problems and no akumas. The twins and Mason 'somehow' managed to snag the apartment (which was occupied before them) next to our own (I just hope they didn't con anyone out of a room. The twins would do that-) and had started working in LAX, the modeling company we worked at.

Of course, Mr. Gracestone loved them all. All immortals had an ethereal beauty to them, so once all of the winter clothes were done with we all just went onto regular modeling, and not just for clothes. Our faces started popping up in magazines, posters, and on digital boards in the city.

Adrian had the biggest crowd, since he was in it the longest. People loved Fred and George, probably because they were identical twins and the girls loved that (for some reason.) Alya didn't come in as much as before, not wanting the attention cause it got in the way of her blog. Mason and I didn't really bask in the new attention we were getting. It was mostly boys, and they were all nice about it, but the other immortals seemed upset about something and we just thought it better to not go signing stuff.

The boys did the same. When they turned down a girl's poster once and we asked about it, they said something like, 'I wanted too, but your face was promising eternal torture if I do.'

We looked at each other, positive that we didn't have an upset face, and that it was them. In hindsight, it was all of us (but Fred.)

Christmas was close and it was snowing outside. We were walking back from LAX, but then the twins saw something interesting and dragged Mason away. That left Adrian and I walking home together, like it use to be.

"Oh Adrikins!"

Ugh oh my Paris no.

A blonde ball of brattiness barreled into Adrian, almost knocking him over. Chloe got in three cheek kisses before Adrian plied her off, holding her by the shoulders to keep her there. "Hi, Chloe."

"Oh Adrikins, we barely ever hang out anymore!" Chloe pouted, side eyeing me. I smirked right back. "You're the talk of the town now, though! I'm so proud."

"Thank you." He smiled. "But, honestly, I think Mari's gained more fame then I have, and in a quicker amount of time." That smile turned to me, and it seemed to get just a slight bit brighter.

"You were the one who introduced me to LAX." I replied, eyes darting over to catch Chloe's upset face. "I couldn't be where I am without you. You gave me a home and helped me get a job."

"Wait…" Chloe looked very confused. "Do you two… live together?!"

"Yeah." Adrian said. "We have been, since she moved here."

"Adrikins." Chloe pouted. "You could've told me you were taking in… the homeless. I can find a spot for her to live, I'll get her out of your shoes!" She immediately turned to her phone.

"Don't worry, Chloe." Adrian assured with a waning smile. "I like living with her. My apartment's made for two, so I needed the extra person. Besides, we had been planning this even before I moved here. You don't need to worry yourself."

"You were…" Chloe looked dumbfounded. "Living in a large apartment, by yourself, for years? Why didn't you say anything, I could've come and given you company!"

I'm glad he didn't say anything. I didn't want Chloe giving him company.

"Well…" Adrian looked around as he came up with a quick lie. "She was supposed to come earlier, but there were problems which delayed her."

"Oh, she left you on your own?" Chloe was starting to glare. "I would never do that to you!"

"But you would." I murmured.

"What?" She looked at me like I was dirt under her shoe.

"But you would." I said louder. "And you did. Do you watch the LC blog? Lolpi? Not only did you leave him to fend for himself, but you threw him in the way to protect yourself." Barely any of that was caught on the actual blog, but Ladybug caught it all. "Didn't Ladybug scold you for that afterwards? She denounced you as her favorite fan, right?" I smiled. "Now, if you please, I need to start making dinner."

I grabbed Adrian's hand and pulled him away. "That was a little much." Adrian murmured.

"For us, yes." I said. "For Chloe, it was just enough to get through her head. Besides, I'm still upset for what she did during Lolpi. Right after you saved her, too!"

"She was scared." He himself sounded like he was making up excuses.

"Lolpi could've killed you!" I spun around, placing a finger on his chest. "She was going to run you through with a gigantic sword! And you had no suit, a tired Plagg, and no sword or saber or whatever-the-hell you call it, and you were going to die."

"I didn't, did I?" Adrian smirked. "Cause My Lady kicked her ass right before she skewered me." Adrian frowned, before pulling me in for a hug. "I didn't know that had you so worried. You should've said something."

"I did." I stayed there for a moment, before releasing him. "I said it to Chloe. Now, come on, Mari's probably hungry, and we haven't cleaned her litter."

X.

We had just finished dinner when an akuma came smashing through the window. Before I could get up, a tight, hard yo-yo was wrapped around my stomach, trapping my arms, and I was being pulled back towards the window.

"What- Mari!" I'm pretty sure that was Adrian, but I was too busy focusing on the akuma. I should've seen it coming, probably.

The yo-yo whipped backwards and released me into the cool Paris air. Stories above the ground. Well then, akumatized Chloe really wanted me dead. "Tikki-!"

I transformed around twenty feet from the ground, lashing out at a hereby light post with my yo-yo. My heels scratched the ground as I swung back up, hitting the side of a building with a dull thud. Shaking my head, I looked around, trying to gain a sense of direction.

Chloe had never come back out of the apartment. She was still in there with Adrian. And even if she never wanted to hurt him, she now was one of the only things that truly could. I didn't know if Adrian would think of transforming right now.

My yo-yo wrapped around another post, and I used it to swing myself back up to our broken window, diving through the sharp hole and missing any cuts on the way. I rolled to a stop, freezing immediately.

Adrian was still in the kitchen, talking with a calm voice but panicked eyes, arms up in a peaceful, non threatening way. He was probably worried since Chloe, in a knockoff outfit of mine, was playing around with a yo-yo. Said yo-yo had razor blades protruding from every side, at least four inches long. That would hurt.

But he had seen me, and Chloe hadn't. It didn't matter in the end, though, since the front door clicked, and our newly found old friends (who we just so happened to give a room key too-) strode in. Since the kitchen hid the door somewhat, it took a second for them to see the damage, and to see who caused it.

I held a finger up to my mouth, and they all listened, stopping whatever they were about to say from coming out of their mouths.

Chloe, though, zero'd in on Mason. "You." She said in familiarity, even though her face showed none. "Are you a rabid fangirl too?!" She lashed her yo-yo about. "Stay away from my Adrikins!"

A few things happened next. The twins had to stifle their laughter, as if wasn't the time for that, and Adrian rubbed a hand over his face to hide his embarrassment from said laughter. The most important thing, though, was that a yo-yo with a razor problem was heading straight towards Mason's stomach.

She didn't look the slightest bit scared, though. In fact, she was smiling. As if being in this situation was familiar and she loved it. Without breaking a sweat, she sidestepped, pushing Fred out of the way while simultaneously grabbing George and falling backwards. The yo-yo cut a thin line on the tip of George's nose, too fine and too small for blood but big enough to see.

Chloe brought the yo-yo back and paused. She blinked, before a purple masked covered her face and she growled, a voice that wasn't her own speaking. "You survived."

"Don't be so surprised." Mason growled back, smiling as she jumped back up on her feet. "That's what you get for not finishing the job!"

I caught eyes with Adrian. Had they met since the last time Mason was with them? Had she almost… died? The twins haven't been seen in ages, but suddenly now they're here with us, and they showed up with Mason…

What had happened?

Chloe was rounding up for another lash of her razor yo-yo, and I couldn't think any farther into it. I threw my own yo-yo, and it wrapped around Chloe's chest, covering her arms and her own yo-yo. She helped, mask disappearing as I pulled her back to me, aiming for whatever the akuma was. Her outfit didn't help much, but it had to be something important to her.

When she got to me she jumped up, using both of her feet to kick me in the gut. I, not at all prepared, coughed up my lung and fell to the ground. Chloe detangleed herself from my yo-yo and raised her own, probably planning to stab me.

A hand caught her wrist. Adrian threw her back as I got my organs back under my control. She growled, to angry to speak anymore, when Fred skipped up behind her and tapped her back. "What?"

"Nothing." Fred shrugged, and then George did the same, going up to her other side and poking her. "What?!"

As she was too busy dealing with two twins annoying her, she didn't even realize when Fred plucked her yo-yo out of her hand, replacing it with a coaster of around the same size. Both twins were chattering about anything and everything, but behind George's back he had his hand out, asking for something. It clicked in my mind before I even really understood.

My lucky charm was, strangely, a framed photo of Adrian. I glanced at him, showing the picture before sneaking up and placing it in George's waiting hand.

"See." George brought the picture up and towards her like he had it all along. "No one is trying to stop you." "Yeah." Fred joined in. "Everyone knows how close you two are."

Despite the fact that Fred and George didn't know anything about Chloe and were pulling this from their asses, they had done a good job. Chloe took the picture, looked at it for a moment, and sighed, eyes closed. With a quick hand one only had from stealing... a lot, George grabbed the mask around her eyes and tossed it to Adrian.

Chloe fell to the floor as Adrian caught the mask, tearing it and catching the butterfly. He seemed to realize halfway through that he needed to be transformed to do that, and after a moment gave the dust to me.

At the beginning, I was worried, but Chloe as an akuma hadn't actually been all that hard. Maybe it had to do with the twins and Mason being here, but I'm happy they are.

It would never be the same, but it did feel like, even if just a little bit, like I was back home, before all of this happened.


	17. Chapter 17: Pain

**_When you live forever…_**

 ** _Bad things seem to happen more than good._**

 _"Some days are just bad days, that's all. You have to experience sadness to know happiness, and I remind myself that not every day is going to be a good day, that's just the way it is!"_

-Dita Von Teese

——————

 **Fred**

There was a festival coming up, around a week after Chloe's little tantrum. Mari and Adrian weren't feeling it, for some reason, so they didn't join us. I wish they did, though, since almost everything was themed after them.

Halfway into the night and George was already decked out in Chat Noir's mask, ears, tail, and bell. He looked like a ginger Chat, but it worked for some reason.

Also, halfway into the night, we had already spent a hundred and something dollars in between us. I dunno how much that translates into Paris' currency, but I do know that we're just to good at carnival games. It started when a child couldn't get the ladybug they wanted on a ring game, so Mason spent some money and got basically a perfect score on the first try. Of course, she gave the child the ladybug they wanted, but now she was on a mission.

That mission, of course, to put carnival salesmen out of their jobs. And we were glad to help.

By the third empty stall we had cleared out, every child and their mother had some type of stuffed animal. Some stalls had closed when we came closer, some obviously rigged themselves even more and then challenged us. They just didn't understand, we were the ones who invented most of these games. We were the ones who knew every tip and trick to win one.

We left with a number of free popcorn and pretzels from thankful people, and we left behind us around fifteen empty stalls, and an entire festival full of people with stuffed animals. Strangely, we hadn't taken any ourselves, but that's just how it went.

We stopped at a park by the festival to finish eating. It was a cloudless night, and the moon was bright in the sky, which made it even nicer.

"Wish I kept my wand." George murmured in the darkness. I turned to him, incredulous.

"You didn't?"

He shrugged. "I thought we were 'leaving it all behind' to go find Mason." He said.

Fred had said that, didn't he? I hated my past self, because that was before I was caught up in an explosion that destroyed my wand and almost killed me. "You know how helpful a wand would be right now?"

"That's why I wish I kept it." George responded, finishing one of his pretzels. It was too late now to really argue about it, so I let it be, instead opting to watch the ducks swim across the clear water.

We really did leave it all behind. It wasn't real, but we had a family for a little bit, older and younger brothers and even a sister. We worried less about Gabriel in that time and more about no-nose-man, and that was great in itself. He couldn't kill us, not with what he gad. We opened a shop, we taught a whole new world how to really be deviant. And besides the few close calls, between the him being almost exploded and George almost getting his ear cut off -I would've been holy- it was fun (he conveniently forgets about when they were captured and almost tortured for information on their kwami.)

Not only that, but I really liked everything about the place. Their sport was right up both George's and I's alley. You get to hit people without getting in trouble if you're sneaky enough, it's the best. The friends were fantastic too, Lee and Kate and Angela and Harry- such a nice guy. Surprisingly, it was Hermione that we both got close too, since she was the one who saw our kwami first, and she helped us hide them, in exchange for knowing what the hell they actually were.

It was great for a while, even after everyone found out about us. They were all surprisingly chill about it, if not slightly wary. Of course, then all the no-nose stuff happened and everyone suddenly had more important things to worry about.

But we had a home. One that accepted us for who we are. They would protect us. We didn't have to run anymore.

"Do you regret leaving?"

It was George, his voice soft and his mind was most definitely thinking the same thoughts as me. Mason had gone up to the duck pond, throwing pieces of pretzel to the ducks.

Did I regret leaving? The answer was simple. "No." I said. "She would've died if we didn't." She was so bloody when they had finally caught up to her. Her kwami was blurring in and out of existence. We were afraid that we were too late. "Do you?"

George had even more of a life there then I did. Neither of us had settled down with someone, but it was obvious that George fancied (once you go British, it's hard to go back) someone, even if he wouldn't tell me who. I figured to was Kate or Angela. He even babysat Teddy whenever Harry couldn't take care of the boy. He loved it all.

George looked up, looking at where Mason was at the duck pond. The night was silent besides the bugs and crickets, adding another level to the serene feel. "Never." He said. "Even if it gets me killed."

I blinked, taking another look at George. Huh, guess I was wrong about a few things.

We left a few minutes after our conversation, dumping our trash into the closest tin and making our way home. For once, we did so silently, to busy with our thoughts to respond. Mason was looking at us weirdly, but I didn't mind.

The air was cold, but it also felt distinctly dark, something air should definitely not feel like. I shared a look with George before voicing my thoughts.

"Something's wrong here." I murmured, rubbing my arms. Paris was quiet in the dark, even with the lamps lighting everything up.

Mason was looking up at the moon, eyes sliding back and forth, before shrugging. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary…"

I looked to my twin, and he immediately put a hand on her shoulder. "There is something wrong here, though. Everyone's gone. Sure, most people are asleep but there are night jobs."

"I agree that something is wrong." Mason said after a moment. "But I know that no one is following us-" she stopped for a moment, an odor hitting her nose, causing her to gag. "Do you smell that?"

I looked around, sniffing at nothing. George shrugged, but I could smell a faint whiff of something. Maybe Mason could smell it easier because she's a wolf. The smell wasn't pleasant, though.

"What is it?" George asked after a moment. He couldn't smell it, apparently.

"Something bad, like rot or decay." Mason said, pinching her nose closed. We entered the apartment building, going up to our floor. The smell got worse. And as the elevator dinged open, it all clicked.

"Shit!" I cursed, running out of the elevator towards Adrian's and Marinette's room. "No nononono."

"What?!" George asked, suddenly running besides me. "Talk to me, what's happened?"

"The smell! It's poison!" I yelled as I got to their door, knocking quickly. We didn't bring our key. No answer. "To faint for a regular nose to pick up."

Mason was now next to us, knocking harder and calling out for Mari. When no one answered, I slammed my shoulder into the door, ignoring the pain as I put extra strength behind it. The door broke, flying open.

Immediately, the stench in the apartment made me retch, Mason covering her face and moving to the side for a moment. George pushed through, moving towards Adrian's room.

After a moment, I covered my mouth with my hand in a half decent attempt to protect myself and moved forward, going towards Marinette's room. I wish we didn't leave the kwami asleep in our own room, but there was no time to get them now.

I opened her door, freezing with what I saw. Marinette looked too pale under the blankets, eye's half lidded, more unconscious than asleep. Standing over her, a black spider the size of an elephant. As if it couldn't be any worse, instead of a head, the top half of a female body stuck out, white skin contrasting the black spider, several red eyes on her face, little claws in the side of her mouth, sheen black hair almost falling to the floor.

Marinette groaned, and for the first time, I could tell she was still somewhat conscious. The spider looked at me, and chuckled in a high tini voice. "Another one for me to feed upon…"

I had to get this thing out of here. It was definitely making the poison, I could see it oozing out of her. It would kill Mari if I didn't get it out of here. The poison itself was already affecting me, I could feel my lungs clog and my brain fuzz.

I smirked, calming the pounding of my heart. Hopefully George and Mason had gotten Adrian out. If I did happen to get killed, I wanted to know they'd be safe. "Ha, like you could ever catch me, you oversized Spider-Man." Not my best, I blame the adrenaline. And, you know, the poison.

The spider hissed, charging forward. I ran out of the room, towards the living room. It broke the doorway to get through, legs scurrying towards me.

I ran to the balcony, throwing the doors open. Cool air ran into the stenched room, making it easier to breath. Still, my head was foggy and once I got outside to the balcony I realized I didn't have a plan after that. Oh no.

The spider broke the balcony doors to get out to me, one front leg snapping forward to grab me. I yelped in pain, my brain clearing slightly. She dragged me forward, squeezing tighter and tighter until I couldn't actually breath.

"Oh, you'll be a fun one to eat~"

She relieved a little bit of pressure, and I fell forward with a gasp of breath, coughing. Before I could really start breathing again, that poisonous air was back, waving around me like a cocoon. The poison wasn't potent enough to give off a quick death, Gabe wasn't powerful enough to give someone that power. He probably wouldn't want to anyway, he would want us to suffer.

I didn't know what was happening, my senses came back slightly, just to be removed again. I was coughing, the tangy taste on my lips telling me it was blood. Black smog curled around me, burning my eyes, so I kept them shut. My skin was irritated, and my stomach was churning. Sharp pain interlaced in my bones made me try to scream, but I was still coughing up blood…

I'm going to die.

And suddenly, I was panicking and jerking about, trying to move my hands, which were trapped by my sides. My labored breathing became more sporadic. I shouldn't panic or else the poison would take control quicker stop stop no no no no more please no more it _hurts_ just let it be _over_ let everyone else be _safe-_

The spider screamed in pain, dropping me. I fell, landing with a hard thump and coughing some more. After a moment, I struggled to open my eyes, and I saw that someone had cut off the spider's leg, the one holding me.

I tried to get to my knees, but failed. My vision swam, going from black to white to rainbow to stars. Someone was next to me, hand on my back and saying something, but I couldn't hear anything but static. I groaned, trying to wipe my mouth with my arm, but I couldn't move.

Mason had transformed, her boxer claws were dripping with blood as she growled, attacking the monster with no mercy. Chat was fighting too, stumbling slightly but mostly okay. I got a glimpse of George next to me, alright. He was fine. Rabi and Trix were fine. I saw them, they were fine, _they were all fine._

The spider was pushed back to the edge of the balcony, hissing as her human arms came to cover her face. "Let me eat my meal!" She hissed. "I caught it! It's my meal! Stay away from my meal!"

She stumbled over the edge of the balcony, half of her body falling off. In a last attempt, one of her legs darting towards me, probably ready to grab me and take me with her.

But George moved in the way.

No.

 _No_.

 _Nononononono_.

I couldn't move and all I could do was watch no no no he was bleeding and there was a leg in his stomach and he's bleeding and the leg's gone and he's falling and _I can't move no no let me help him no please let me help let me **move**._

And suddenly, my consciousness gave up.

——————

 **I wrote this chapter a while ago and I don't know if I like how it turned out.**

 **To make it clear, this is it a crossover, I just needed twins for my story and I'd thought it be funny to use Fred and George and make them immortal. Because they're already immortal in our hearts.**


	18. Chapter 18: Power

**_When you live forever…_**

 ** _You forget what it's like for the powerless._**

 _"All things can corrupt when minds are prone to evil."_

 _-Ovid_

———————

Adrian

The knocking became louder and louder the longer I tried to ignore it. With a groan, I shuffle from the couch, glancing into Mari's room, where she slept, then to my own, where Mason was taking the first sleep she's had in a few days.

I opened the door, eyes squinting at the light it brought into the dim room. "Alya-'s not… Good time." I slurred, the lack of sleep getting to me more than the actual poison in my veins. "Danger...ous."

"Holy crap, you look awful! What happened?" She immediately wrapped an arm around my waist and supporting me back inside.

"Poisonous… akuma. Ambush. Hurt." I muttered, leaning against the kitchen counter to try and get her from going any farther in. "Wait. No-"

The sharp intake told me I was too late.

It took me a second to catch up, by the time i did she was in the inside corner of the two couches, hands moving as if wanting to help but not touching anything.

George still laid on his back, bandages wrapped around his torso already dipped in red. His face was still and tense in pain, like the rest of his body. He hasn't woken up nor moved in hours.

Fred on the hand, was tossing and turning, muttering in a whimper random things as he held his blanket closer. His face was flushed bright red, his breath sporadic like he was about to have an attack, as well as the sweat pouring off him. Boils and red rashes were scattered along his body. The ice pack on his head was just changed.

Rabi and Trix sat on the side table, curled in their own blanket. Trix isn't showing symptoms of anything, but Rabi was dissolving. Slowly, one dust a minute, dissolving, from the foot and up. The grey rabbit was missing half a foot already.

George was dying.

"How do we fix this?" Alya almost demanded. "If we clean the akuma, we'll be fine. Let's do that!"

"We need Mari to gain back some strength, she's too weak. Hell, I'm to weak." I sighed. "Mason can fight it, but we'll be sitting ducks. It's all so screwed-"

Trix moved from her seat next to her sibling, weakly going over to Fred's head. With a stumbled gesture, she landed on the foxtail necklace the immortal always wore. After a moment, she pointed at Alya.

My eyes widened as I caught on. "No."

Trix looked up sadly with her amber eyes, eyes flickering towards her brother before looking back at Alya. She was too weak to speak.

"It wont work." I said, more to myself then Trix. "Only Fred can- no. No. Even- no, its to dangerous."

Alya, with Trix guiding, had already placed a hand on the necklace. It glowed slightly, and Fred's breathing calmed a fraction. Alya looked up, confused and ready to ask, but she didn't speak first.

"I'm… im scared."

Rabi was shaking, eyes grey as he looked at me was such panic and desperation that I almost took a step back. He whimpered again. "Pain- it hurts so much. Please, i'm scared. I don't wanna disappear- I don't wanna-" Rabi looked at George, the immortal that he came from. "I don't want him to go there… the brooch, the brooch is corrupted, Sirap. If he goes there, i'll never come back." Beads of tears welled into his eyes.

Plagg had been resting inside my ring, taking the poison in us and transferring it there so the ring could cleanse it. The ring shuddered on my finger, and it took only a second before Plagg was out, resting besides the rabbit. Rabi engulfed him with a muffled sob, but Plagg didn't move away, holding the other kwami and purring something I couldn't understand.

It took only a second before it clicked. Plagg had had the same fear. Tikki too, probably. That we would die, they would disappear into nothing and would never see us or anyone else again. Mason said that they combine back with their immortal, and the immortal is completely immortal afterwards. I guess that meant if we died, we'd go back to full power, but Gabe's brooch stops that from happening.

"But-" I was still trying to argue, and I didn't know why. "-taking off his necklace, that's supporting him. He'll get worse if we take it off."

Alya yanked her hand away like it had burned her after I finished speaking. Trix looked at me, sinking down to Fred's hair again. She took a second before finally speaking. "I've run out of power to put in the necklace…" the fox's frown deepened. "They're giving each other power right now, but once George goes…" She trailed off.

If George was normal, he would've died immediately to the wound. It was a six inch wide hole in the middle of his stomach, for christ sake! But the only thing that could kill us was the weapon of another immortal, and since the spider wasn't Gabe's actual weapon, it wasn't instantly fatal, but it was still killing him.

I turned to the tiny sound of a clip, and saw Alya holding the fox necklace, wonder and awe lighting up her eyes. After a moment, a look of cold determination took its place. As she clipped it on, I could see an aura overtake her. "When Mason and Mari wakes up, we go looking." Her tone was strict, eyes harsh and I realized then that she wasn't completely in control. A mortal, even a descendant, can't deal with the power in an immortal's miraculous.

I nodded. "We'll leave at dusk."

X.

Alya wasn't in a good place.

I could see it when I looked at her. Her shoulders were to tight, her lips pressed into to thin of a line, her face something between a grimace and anger. Trix sat on her shoulder, frowning softly at her person's descendant.

I was back to mostly normal by the time we left. The spider hadn't made it to my room, so I only got the after taste. Mason was back to somewhere close to full energy, and Mari was, surprisingly, doing okay as well. She said that the spider hadn't been in her room for long, only a few minutes, and she hadn't expelled poison directly at her like she did Fred.

I shuddered, reminding myself to buy better locks, for everything.

We were following Mason, the only one of us coherent enough to be able to follow the spider due to the wretched smell it produced. It was broad daylight, and since there was no screaming, I could guess that the spider had gone into hiding.

Suddenly, the wolf's face snapped to the side, and Mason took off, barely glancing around to see if anyone was looking before transforming. She didn't care anymore, I realized. She was about to lose her two closest friends, and she's already lost so much.

Alya frowned, as if annoyed at her, before breaking into an all out sprint to follow her. Mari and I exchanged looks, beyond worried, before following.

It didn't take long before we completely lost both of them. Mari noticed before I did, and made a b-line for an alley, pulling me with her. We transformed, jumping up to the roof. From there, we caught a glimpse of Mason scaling a building a block away.

When we arrived, she was losing her patience since the door was locked. Glaring, she kicked it, taking it off it's hinges. The door flew back.

Alya appeared moments later, dressed for the part in the Fox outfit. She didn't speak to any of us, pushing past and disappearing into the broken door.

Mason growled at her back. "She's going to get addicted to that power." She warned, before disappearing into the building as well.

I looked at Mari. "Once I destroy the akuma, can you grab her necklace?" I asked. "While she'd distracted? She can't keep that thing on longer then needed."

Mari nodded, still a little tired, before we both ventured forward.

The entire building was filled with the stench of the spider's poison. In the dark, I was the first one to see the people scattered across the ground, barely breathing. I knelt down by one, checking for a pulse. There wasn't one.

"Alya." I said,and she turned towards me. "You need to get these people to the roof."

She frowned. "We need to get rid of the akuma."

"Alya!" Mason snapped, eyes blazing, and she seemed to finally startle. "I swear, if you don't start listening to what we say and stop trying to boss us around I'm going to tear that necklace off your throat!"

Alya glared, before moving. She picked up two people, slinging them over each shoulder before leaving the way we came. "When you're done, call the police and ask for a helicopter." Mari called out. "Then get back to us."

"I swear." Mason grumbled. "This was a bad idea."

"If she wasn't here, then one of us would have to save those people." I said calmly, trying to negotiate. "Then only two of us could fight the spider."

As we moved through the building, we took the time to open windows in every room with a passed out person. It took us a few moments to locate where the bulk of the poison was coming from. But this time, the smell wasn't just the poison. I could smell rotting bodies.

Unbridled fury rushed through my veins as we finally saw the akuma. This room was different from the rest, since of all those in here were wrapped up in cocoons. I could tell they had all passed, the five or so people that were here before. I clenched my teeth when I saw the thousands of small spiders writhing across the floor, digging into the dead flesh or webbing up the walls.

"Ooo~" the spider sang. "More food for me and my lovelies!" She looked closer, before her eyes narrowed. "Ooo, it's you! You took my first meal! Miraculous tastes the best!"

Mason didn't let her talk any further, growling before unsheathing her claws and jumping forward, slashing down quick and hard. The spider couldn't block, and screamed in pain.

"How dare you!" She screeched, and the small spiders crawled into the word, ceasing the flow of blood. The lady's multiple eyes went black, and her spider body stood up. "You'll make great toys for my lovelies!"

A wave of spiders crashed into Mason, and she snarled as she tried to deal with them. The main spider laughed, secreting poison again.

"Chat!" Mari yelled, and at some point she had moved away to help Mason. "The windows!"

I obliged, jumping over the spiders coming for me. I had to practically dance my way over to the far wall, but it was worth it. The window was practically the entire wall, thankfully, so when it shattered the fresh air made it almost impossible for the poison to work. She'd have to grab us like she did Fred to cause any real damage.

The thought of it angered me, and I connected my batons, before throwing it like a javelin. It hit the back of her head before clattering to the ground. Due to my increased strength, she most definitely has a concussion. She swayed, falling forward for a moment before fighting herself, hissing and turning my way. I jumped over a new wave of spiders.

Moments later the sprinklers turned on. The room became unbearably hot.

"Come on!" Alya was at the door, and I could see a fire roaring behind her, one she most definitely started. The sprinklers were doing their best, but it wouldn't change the outcome. "We got to go!"

Mason reached her first, obviously enraged by what the teen had done. Even if she had finished rescuing all the wounded, there was a chance that she could have missed someone, or that other people were still in the building. She snapped at the mortal, grabbing her arm and pulling her out. Fire engulfed the spot they were standing in earlier, blocking their escape root.

Smoke started filling the room.

I made my way to Mari's side, using the fire as a distraction. My hand found her shoulder, and I gestured towards the window. "Let's go. You can miraculous the damage away and we can find the akuma later."

Mari shook her head, biting her lip. "The akuma won't survive this." She whispered a protest. The fire had spread quickly, burning through the fuel of the smaller spiders. It already had reached the akuma. "There's an innocent person in there."

I frowned. "When innocent people get akumatized they don't kill people. I doubt they're innocent."

But Mari's mind was made up. She took a step forward before dropping to the ground as the smoke reached us. After a moment, two things popped into reality with a bright flash. She had lucky charmed some oxygen masks, equipped with tanks and all.

It was only slightly hard to fit them over the ears, and the oxygen itself was bulky, but once we had put it on, it was easier to see and breath. Hopefully my suit would protect me somewhat from the heat. We just had to save the akuma and get out the window. Easy, right?

The akuma was still fighting the flames that had started to roam up it's body. She was clutching something purple in her hand, keeping it away from the flames. The akuma, most likely. Mari stood up slowly, sliding out of the fire's path, before slinging her yo-yo. It wrapped onto the spider's hand, and she yanked. The akuma lost its grip, and I lunged forward, grabbing the akumafied object, crushing it between my claws.

Plagg gave a little warning in my head, which was the only reason I noticed that my foot was on fire. These suits are indestructible, apparently. As I passed the broken akuma over, I put out my foot and waited for Mari to finish. It didn't take long before the akuma had turned into a regular old lady, curled up and most definitely unconscious.

I picked her up before the fire could reach her, and we both bolted for the broken window, jumping out almost recklessly. Mari landed on the short building on the opposite way, and I had to twist in mid air to hit the same spot. Once she saw that I was there and safe, she helped removed the mask from my head (I _was_ holding someone) and miraculous the fire away.

I looked at the old woman in my arms before gasping. "Oh."

"Oh?" Mari turned back. "What, oh? What is it?"

"I recognize her." I pointed to the still down woman. "They call her Killer Granny. When she was thirty or so, she would kidnap kids and force them to kill stuff for her. It was an entire scandal in the 70s. They let her out of jail last year because she hadn't cause any problems."

Mark frowned, before glaring at the old woman. "I guess you were right." She said. "Innocent akuma don't kill."

I didn't answer, since Mason and Alya landed next to us moments later. Alya was actually snarling at the other girl, trying to scratch her with her claws. Mason glared but didn't retaliate, holding her arm back while blocking her attempts.

"It's an akuma!" She protested. "It wanted to kill us! It killed others! Better to kill it then let it live."

Mari sighed quietly, walking up to the mortal girl. She ignored Alya's protest, taking the necklace in her hands. Alya's protests increased, but she couldn't do anything as Mari gently took the necklace off, clipping it around her own neck for safekeeping. Trix appeared on her shoulder, purring at the extra energy Mari had, absorbing it all in. The necklace glowed for a moment.

Alya swayed, before falling over. Mari caught her. "I'll take her home." Her voice was soft. "You guys, go check on…" she trailed off, moving to the edge of the building.

I stopped her. "Let me have the necklace. You're still too weak to be feeding your energy to two Kwami."

She didn't argue, so I took the necklace and let her be. She disappeared down the block, and I wanted to wait for the firefighters to arrive, but the fire was out and Mason was obviously impatient to get back. We left moments later.

X.

Fred wasn't on the couch when we got back.

"That little bugger-" Mason was smiling, but she sounded upset. "Fred, we have Trix!"

She didn't wait for him to appear, instead moving over to George. Rabi sat in the same spot they left him, no longer vanishing but foot still missing. Trix spent no time flying over to her brother. George himself was still out, banadages redone by probably Fred. They were slightly red, which worried Mason enough to take them off to look at the wound.

A hand grabbed her wrist as she started. "Going to ask me to dinner before you start undressing me?"

I stand corrected. He wasn't unconscious.

Mason's face was something in between extreme relief and extreme sadness. She blinked back tears before continuing on. "Like you need to eat anymore."

"Hey, I'm fit as a fiddle!"

"Tell that to your potbelly." Mason's hand glided through his hair for only a moment, before she went back to checking the wound. It felt like I was watching something I shouldn't be watching, but this was my apartment and I wanted to make sure George was alright as well. "There's a reason why Fred keeps you away from France. You're in love with their baguettes."

George pouted. "I'm hurt, aren't you supposed to be nursing me back to health?"

"Do I _look_ like a nurse to you?"

Mari's room door opened, and Fred spoke before his twin could. "Don't answer that." He warned. He looked only slightly sick, face still flush and eyes still red, but completely fine besides that. He snatched up his necklace before settling next to me, clipping it on. His smile was genuine when he spoke next, whispering to me so as to not interrupt his brother and friend. "I've aired out all your rooms. Any residue of poison should be gone."

"Thanks." I grinned, my own relief finally making itself known. Plagg purred from his spot on my shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Oh, she was nothing." Fred shrugged. "Terrifying in her own right, but you've never met Aragog before. Pissed my pants first time I saw him."

I couldn't wait to hear that story.

But now obviously wasn't the time, and we watched quietly as Mason rebandages George's wound. He had fallen back to sleep, still very hurt and very tired. The wound was now only an inch wide and maybe an inch deep, but that was still dangerous. The immortal wouldn't die, but he would need time to heal.

"We should get him back to our apartment." Fred said suddenly, standing up. He easily picked up his brother, making his way to the door. Mason whispered her farewells before joining Fred, opening the door for him. I didn't miss the kiss she planted on the sleeping twin's forehead.

It was quiet after they left. I wondered how long it would take Mari to get back, and I wasn't too keen on sleeping in my room at the moment. Turning on the tv, I watched five minutes of something or other, before drifting off. I guess I needed to recover as well.

I had a dream of fingers combing through my hair and humming me a tune lost to the ages. At first, I thought it was my mom. It took me a moment to figure out it wasn't. Then I realized it wasn't a dream.


	19. Chapter 19: Safety

**_When you live forever…_**

 ** _Safety and trust are weapons, not feelings._**

 _'Against the bold, daring is unsafe'_

 _Ovid_

 _——————_

Mari

Days passed as fast as snow littered the ground. While Mason decided to enroll in school, Fred and George stayed away. When I asked them about it, they said something along the lines of, 'Our last school was much better than this one will ever be, and we don't want to ruin the memory.' and also, 'we have a finicky past with schools. To much death in them, ya know?' which contradicted _both_ statements, but I didn't bring it up again.

Thanksgiving passed. While it was a holiday originating in America, there were scatterings of Parisans celebrating, and Mason had spent the last fifty years there before meeting back up with the twins, so she said it was a must. I, on the other hand, had been in the Netherlands before this. Adrian had been here, and the twins had been in England, so none of us had celebrated in a while to blend in.

She did not, though, see our logical sense. Alya did not help her in this matter. While her parents always cooked big meals for her somewhat large family, Thanksgiving was just like every other day, except for the addition of gravy. Mason had looked faint as Alya told her, and then said that everyone had to have the 'American Thanksgiving' and that 'this would simply not do' and then disappeared into the kitchen with her phone to her ear, calling some form of caterers.

"You're paying!" Adrian called after her. I swatted the back of his head.

"Ignore him." I called after. "We'll split the bill!"

So, after a hearty meal that only the twins and Plagg finished, with plenty of leftovers to spare, I decided that yes, a holiday dedicated to eating was both very American and very my style. Alya called it her favorite holiday after the caterers first put out the food. I don't know if her opinion stayed that way thereafter.

But now Christmas was coming, and the annual panic that emerged from finding, buying, or making gifts appeared. Before, Adrian and I always had calm Christmasses. We were around before Saint Nick, so we didn't grow up to presents twice every year. I still remember when we use to count age by seasons. The twins seemed hellbent on getting someone from across the channel to knit us something, Alya was flailing about in the shopping marts, dragging poor Nino around with her, and Mason… wasn't doing anything, surprisingly.

"I haven't celebrated Christmas in hundreds of years." She said when I asked about her jolly spirit. "You can eat alone, but buying presents when there's no one around to give them isn't really fun."

"But what about the ten or so years you were with the twins?" I asked, still confused. "They seem to set on knitting us something for you to have not gotten one as well."

Her eyes flashed then, anger, pain, and memories directed at the ground. "I was… really hurt, when they found me." She admitted. "I don't really remember the first two or three years, honestly. I was basically in a coma while my body healed. I was bedridden for another year, then something happened at their school and they left for another year. When they got back, we travelled for a bit. I dunno, Christmas came and passed, but I never brought it up, and neither did they. It felt like, after their school, they spent more time mourning than anything else. I understand that, so I didn't bother them."

I bought her a stuffed wolf a foot taller than her. It was hiding in my closet and wait (as well as it could, the tail and a leg was poking out). When Adrian saw it he stopped watching where he was going and subsequently banged his shin _and_ stubbed his toe. Good times.

It was a normal Christmas day, right after school. Mason hadn't showed today, but we had gotten a message saying that they were going ice skating somewhere. I didn't bother asking where- we'd see something on the news about an ice rink turning purple or floating or something later on. Nothing was ever simple around the twins.

It was then that the snow froze, and an akuma came into view over the tops of the buildings. Ever since the spider akuma, Gabriel's been very… tame and conservative with his choices. With only two akumas between then and now, both had been very easy to take care of, with Mason and the twins or without. This one seemed to be another easier one, dressed in a more innocent costume then the spider and the halloween akuma.

Then suddenly Adrian was behind me, arm around my waist as he leaned down to whisper to me, since we were in a crowded space. I know why he did it, but it still made me blush. Why? "I bet I can beat the akuma before you can."

I smirked, trying to pass the blush as flush from the cold. His smile was nice. "You're on."

The akuma was, indeed, very simple to beat. An ice wizard of some sort that was really just a man who just dealt with a breakup. He had a fun time freezing the hearts of couples in love. All in all, a 3 out of 10 on the danger chart.

That should've made me suspicious.

I wasn't though, so I thought nothing of it when Adrian passed the dust to me and disappeared into the city we had built long ago.

——————

Adrian

I had just turned the butterfly into dust when I heard far off crying.

"Can you finish this?" I accidently cut off whatever Mari was saying, straining my ear to hear the crying. It sounded like a child, and it's situation might've been dangerous. The Lucky Charm reversal might fix the problem, but I didn't want to take that risk.

Mari tilted her head at me, but only took the butterfly dust. Jumping off the building, I pole vaulted through the streets in the direction of the sound.

It _was_ a child. A little boy.

"Hello there." I knelt next to the little boy, looking him over. He was blond, with dark green shaded eyes. His outfit was plain, and I would say he was lower class if not for the insanely crusted opal gem in his necklace. His face was squished as he watched the world outside his alcove. "Are you okay?"

The boy shook his head. "No… I was looking for something, but I can't find it. My moma said it would be here."

I gave him a smile, holding out a hand. "How about I help you find it? Here, what's your name?"

The boy took my hand with a beaming smile. "Adrian."

My stomach dropped suddenly. Adrian? That's what- but he should have purple eyes, no way-

My stomach was still dropping when my vision blurred, and the head splitting headache that hit me right after came from seemingly nowhere. If I wasn't already kneeling, I would've fallen. "Are you okay, mister?"

I tried to let go of his hand, but I was numb, almost immobile. Distantly, I could hear Plagg yelling about something, but it all sounded muffled, like I was under water or being smoldered from a pillow.

I blinked. Everything changed.

Where was I?


End file.
